Magic of the Heart
by Anigo-kurai
Summary: Sora is a First Level Fire Witch obsessed with Fate. When practicing his skills with his friend, Nia, a spell backfires and Sora is transported to a new world with beautiful landscapes, conversational trees and. . .a bounty on his head? [RiSo][OCRiku]
1. In the Beginning

**Author's little Tid-bit thingy:** hey guys it's me again! This here is a new fic I've been working n for a while now. I think you guys are ready for it now, but before you start reading, I have a little vocab list for you to memorize or else you won't understand any of it.

First off, there are two different types of Witch in this story: Elementals and Alternatives. Elamentals, as the name implies, specialize in the emements, ie: Fire Water Earth Air Light Darkness . . . anything of the like, you get the idea. Alternatives are Withces that don't have a specification, they usually work with general spellcasting and potions.

Now, for the vocab I promised.

There are six stages of Witch:

1) **Registration:** declaring and documenting that the wielder are indeed a Witch- males are also referred to as witches. This is sort of like getting your driver's permit (congratulations Nia and Sora on that, by the way)

2) **Apprentice:** as the name suggests, the Witch becomes an apprentice to a higher-level Witch and must spent a minimum of one year learning from this person. This higher ranking Witch must be of the same Element or non-Element.

3) **Summoner: **may now take on an apprentice.

4) **Sorcerer/ Sorceress:** this fourth-level rank qualifies the wielder to enlist in the military and if the need so calls for it, they may be called ot aide in battle. At this rank they have the proper amout of experience.

5) **Enchantor/ Enchantress:** a very dificult level to achieve. Because not many people are able to make it this far in their entire lifetimes, this is a very respected rank.

6) **Sage:** The highest level of Sorcery there is and the most difficult to attain. Sages are the most respected of all Witches and oversee newcoming Witches' registrations, which Sorcerers are summoned for battle, acknowledging Apprentiships, and sometimes even perform important marriage ceremonies.

Okay, now that you are educated in the system (and assuming you didn't stop reading because you got bored) you are now prepared to embark on your journey. As always, Enjoy!

* * *

**_Chapter 1: In the Beginning_**

A late summer morning found Sora hanging halfway off of his bed as usual, the only thing holding him up on his bed was a thin sheet. He had fallen asleep in yesterday's outfit yet again, a thick paperback book threatening to slip free of his fingers. From the looks of it, anyone would guess that the boy had drifted off somewhere between the late night and the early morning while reading another of those Fantasy novels full of adventure and finding love. He had started reading Melanie Rawn a few months ago and found the Dragon Prince series especially entertaining. Right now he was in the middle of the second in the trilogy, The Star Scroll.

Lately, the book began to interfere with his sleep cycle, keeping him awake all hours, seeing to it that he got, at maximum, maybe five hours of sleep per night, the minimum was two. And even while he slept, the book wouldn't let him rest, invading his final thoughts as he drifted off and plaguing his dreams. It wasn't until another presence had entered and was gently shaking his shoulders that he finally stirred leaving the world of Sunrunners and dragon hunts.

"Out of bed, sleepyhead!" The almost melodic voice giggled shoving him onto his back, "You've spent half of the day sleeping already."

"Mom . . . ?" Sora groaned wiping the sleep away from his crystal-blue eyes.

"He lives!!" the woman cheered, clasping her hands together. Her equally entrancing eyes glittering and playful despite Sora's lack of response, "and here, I was beginning to worry."

"What's the deal, Mom?" Sora began as he began to find his voice through his delirium.

"Can't I just come in and say 'Hi' to my only son without being interrogated?" She whined dropping her hands and giving her son a small pout, a trait she had apparently passed on.

Sora merely rolled over, immune to his mother's pouts, and covered his face with his arm. "You could always say 'Hi' to one of your many daughters."

"That hurts, Sora." She sniffed as she turned to leave the room, "Oh- and by the way, your friend is here."

At that, Sora sprang out of bed in a swift motion, "What!? You could've mentioned that before!"

Taiyo stopped and leaned against the door frame raking a slender hand through her shoulder-length acorn-colored hair. "So you _did_ forget! Oooh! Nia won't be too happy to hear about that!"

"I didn't forget!" Sora defended as he quickly changed yesterday's outfit into something new, "I- just . . . wasn't thinking about it at the moment."

"Oh, I'm sure she'll believe that." Taiyo chided narrowing her eyes at the boy, "Is that what I should tell her?"

"Just tell her that I'll be there in a minute, and then we can begin the session."

"Aye, Sir Fire Master, Sora" and with that, Taiyo left her son to dress.

"Tch- maybe some day."

But first he needed to make it past the level of a first level Witch.

- s -

Less than five minutes later, Sora emerged from his room to greet Nia, the young Summoner who had so graciously agreed to aid Sora in his quest. The girl stood from her place in the living room with Taiyo. Her longish springs of brown hair were pulled back into a messy bun that obviously hadn't been meant to impress anyone. Her clothes looked durable enough for what Sora had in mind, and consisted of a sleeveless purple tank-top thing and white-washed pedal-pusher pants that had been splotched with different colors of paint and chlorine bleach from previous episodes with her friend. She was definitely ready for a day of practicing with Sora.

Nia gave a small wave when she saw Sora at the top of the staircase as he was pulling a loose black shirt over his head. Sora caught the tail-end of the gesture and smiled as he returned it.

"Oh, so he finally decides to show up." Taiyo chided as she too stood to acknowledge his appearance, "Sora-honey, It's not polite to keep people waiting an hour as you waste time sleeping."

"An _hour_!?" Sora exclaimed meeting Nia's hazel-green eyes with startled blue.

"I wouldn't say that long." Nia chuckled waving again, this time in dismissal. "Only a few minutes, really."

Sora gave Nia a disapproving glare.

"**_Really!_**" she insisted.

Taiyo gave a short giggle, winking as she approached and playfully slung an arm around Nia's shoulders, making the younger woman stumble a bit, "It's alright. We had some quality girl time while you were asleep." She accented the statement, mussing Nia's hair a bit and causing it to fall out of the loose hold of her green ribbon, "But, for now, Girl Time is over and it's time for Sora's Fire lesson. We'll talk later, 'kay?"

Nia gave a small smile of her own as she pulled away from the older woman. "Yeah, we'll do this again soon."

Taiyo's smile deepened as Nia and Sora turned to leave the house via the front door, "Maybe Sora will be a Fire Sage by then, ne?"

"Yeah! Nia laughed as she grabbed Sora's wrist and pushed him out of the house before he could protest or get a word in edge-wise. She peered back into the room to, not wanting to seem rude, and gave a parting smile, "And thanks for the tea, Ms. Taiyo."

"See ya, Mo—"

The door closed before Sora could finish.

Nia grasped onto the boy's wrist again, grinning excitedly, and sped off toward the shore where the boats were tied to the small pier.

"Where are we going, Nia!?" Sora called after his captor as she led him away from his house, "and _why_ couldn't I speak to my mom before we left?"

"Because, So-ra," The girl giggled as they reached their boats. It was only then she let her friend go, "we are already extremely behind schedule. We were supposed to be going over the second level stuff as well as a few potions if we had time . . ." her voice dropped slightly as she climbed into her boat and gestured for Sora to do the same, "I was looking forward to the potion-making."

Sora, determined not to let Nia's little "guilt trip" get the better of him, lowered himself into his own boat and untied it from the pier. It was still admittedly a bit difficult to adjust his weight to steady his boat in the water this soon after waking up, but eventually, his experience kicked in.

"So _where_ are we going?" he repeated as he pulled his oars from the floor.

"I was thinking we go to that little cave near the waterfall on the play island- the secret place. All of the stuff we'll need is already there and not many people know it's there so we'll have the perfect studying environment."

Sora sighed a little as he began to row, pushing the water away from his little boat to propel himself outward toward the sea. There was no doubt that he liked the location well enough. It was dark, quiet, and the waterfall next to it created the perfect white-noise to help him focus, but it also meant that in a place like that, the light would be too dim to read and he couldn't sneak in a page or two of his book. That meant that he had snuck the novel along for no reason at all.

The disappointment in Sora's face and body hadn't gone unnoticed, however. Nia had soon cast off herself and was trailing in Sora's wake. Hmmm, maybe they could cut the lesson short and get to the potion-making sooner. It was a fun side activity that often took Sora away from anything that may be troubling him. Even though potions were Nia's specialty, not Sora's, the boy's curiosity caused him to drop all else and focus with even more intent than with his lessons, Nia thought.

Little conversation was made as they rowed toward the play island, their rowing taking up all of their concentration. Thankfully, the sun was at their backs and didn't hinder their vision at all. Minutes wore on and both of them were beginning to feel the strain in their arms and backs. They really hadn't done this as often as they should have and they were paying for it now.

After a few more minutes, land was in sight and the two teens were relieved to find an empty pier, which meant no curious spectators as they practiced their magic. Though during the summer, this was strange behavior. Perhaps the thought of escaping to the play island for the day seemed too juvenile to the others now that they were older . . . or maybe it was because of that simple fact that they _were_ older now . . . they all probably all had to work and couldn't afford to steal away to their old hang-out spot anymore.

Nia and Sora, both at eighteen years of age, worked in the Temp agencies and would be called in sometimes on a last minute, but today, nothing came up and they were both free for the day, which left plenty of time for Fire studies.

Tying their boats off at the abandoned pier, Sora and Nia settled themselves on dry land and stretched out their tired and nearly forgotten muscles. The silence on the island was admittedly a bit disturbing after growing up associating the place with laughter and the underdeveloped war cries of adolescence. It was a bit sad to come back and find it utterly empty.

If Nia was affected by this thought, she had a really good way of hiding it from onlookers. She seemed completely unfazed by it all as she, once again took Sora's wrists and led him down the pier toward the literal hole in the wall that was their secret place.

Just the sight of it was enough to send the mind reeling as memories began to resurface. The entryway that used to be so big to them had shrunk down to just about eye level and they had to duck just to get in, moving years worth of foliage that had grown in their absence. The inner walls were all nearly bare save for sparse sketches here and there from those days when they were bored and had nothing better to do. Nia had drawn anything and everything that had come to mind, whereas Sora had drawn things he'd seen in dreams. He would try to explain the things he saw to Nia, with no avail, so he would always end up drawing them out instead. His favorite and the most elaborate from back then involved talking animals (as did most of his dreams) and inter-space travel using some sort of squishy blocks as well as a weapon he had called a "keyblade." Nia had been totally taken with the idea and had suggested that he turn it into a book or something of the sort, to which Sora repeatedly refused.

Times seemed to be a bit more simple back then and there was no need to worry about school or work or anything of the like.

Pushing childhood to the back of his mind, Sora moved forward to join Nia in the center of the secret place, beneath the naturally-made skylight, where she was waiting for him along with the supplies they would need for today's lesson. He caught her staring at some of the drawings with a distant-looking smile, stretched across her face.

"Hey, do you remember the Great Jellyfish Fiasco?" She asked in a sigh.

Sora nodded, his own smile forming as he remembered when he and the other boys had collected a number of jellyfish that had washed on shore and tormented the girls with them.

"I still get antsy when I have to go and collect coconuts for home."

Both teens let out small chuckles as they let their eyes roam over the walls for more of their pictures. Nia prodded Sora as she found one that particularly sparked her interest.

"The door."

Sora followed her gaze and saw the rock on the other side of the room. There was a large boulder at that end that he remembered as the door in his dream. He had taken time to etch out the details on that boulder to make it look like it had in his dream. The only problem with it, though, was that, because of his size back then, the door was a few feet too short.

He passed Nia then and found a lone pointed rock. "I'm gonna fix it."

He noted Nia's confused expression as he neared the boulder and scratched the rock against its surface, extending the archway upward and making a border. After all of these years, he still remembered just how the door looked and he used that memory as well as the mini-door that was still there. Deciding instantly what to do with the mini door, Sora took the rock to it as well.

When he pulled back, Nia was at his side looking at his work along with him.

"What's that in the middle?" she asked hesitantly cocking her head.

"A keyhole." Sora answered tossing the rock to the side.

"In the middle of the door?"

Sora shrugged. "I like it."

Nia smiled as she turned back toward the supplies she had brought over. She looked upward through the skylight and found that they were running short on time. If they wanted to make progress today, they couldn't afford to reminisce about childhood fantasies.

Sora caught the absence at his side in the meantime and turned back toward his lesson. Maybe it _was_ time to get started.

"So," the boy began as he took a seat across the cauldron to face Nia completely, "What's in the lesson plan for today?"

A mischievous gleam appeared in Nia's eye as she pushed a few ingredients toward her friend. Lessons could wait a day, couldn't they?

"No lesson. I thought we might take a break and do a little potion-making."

"But you said-" Sora objected.

"Are you complaining?"

Sora shook his head in compliance. To tell the truth, he was more than happy to get away from Fire lessons for the time being. There was an actual sense of relief fell through him as he let a smile escape.

Nia caught this and smiled herself, knowing that this was the right course of action. "But," she began in a compromising tone, "don't think that you've gotten out of Fire practice just because there are no new lessons. I still need you to light the fire for the cauldron, burn a few ingredients, regulate the temperature, things like that, okay?"

Sora shrugged slightly as he leaned backward to rest on his arm, "No sweat, that's all First Level. I can handle that."

"Sora you _are_ First Level. You still need to find a Superior so you can start your apprenticeship. Then, you can take the advancement test and become a Second Level Witch."

"Than what's this?" Sora asked in an incredulous tone, "What have we been doing for the past six months?"

"You know I'm an Alternate. Just because I _can_ use Fire doesn't mean that I am qualified to be your Superior. I can only help until you find another Fire Elemental to be your Superior . . . but this conversation is becoming too serious. Right _now_, we're making potions."

"Fine," Sora groaned eyeing the ingredients in front of him.

"You say that like you were trying to avoid something, Sora."

Again, Sora merely shook his head.

"Alright then," Nia cheered as she rose to her knees and clasping her hands together in front of her, "Let's get started."

Sora let his eyes slide shut as he shifted himself to sit on his knees as well. He concentrated his energy, feeling it course through him as his own blood would. He could feel it pulsing along with his heartbeat as he pulled it out of its usual cycle, letting it flow, letting the heat in his body rise as his fingers began to fall numb. He channeled this energy into his hand, letting his energy make up for the lack of feeling in his fingers and almost instantly, there was a prickling in his fingertips. The heat from the Element inside of him began to gather in his hand as he concentrated, Focusing on making it pool there and prepare for use.

Sora opened his eyes then as he decided just where to center the Fire. If he did this right, he wouldn't even need kindling to keep it lit, he would just have to regulate it and keep replenishing it when it got too dim. Sure, he could have used kindling if he had wanted to, but that was just laziness as far as Sora was concerned. Besides, it didn't hurt to practice on his First Level abilities as Nia had suggested, right?

Picking a spot quickly, Sora released his energy, feeling it pull out of him as if thin threads were being threaded through his skin. The Fire sparked and crackled into life, just as Sora released the last of the reserve he had brought to the forefront of his hand. It was a good thing too, for the loss of his energy was making him fell just a bit lightheaded.

Sora let his hand drop heavily back to the ground as he sank to sit again on the cold ground of the Secret Place. His eyes rose to lock with Nia's to gain her attention.

"What potion are we making then?" he asked carefully as not to let the fatigue show in his voice.

Nia shrugged, "I thought I'd let you decide."

Sora sighed as he shook his head and, through a chuckle, he questioned, "Did you have _anything_ planned today?"

Nia's eyes widened in a playful way, accepting Sora's implied challenge, "Do you impugn my honor as your mentor?" she half-heartedly snapped. Maybe this is all part of my lesson."

Sora crossed his arms, giving the girl a knowing glare.

Nia replied with a roll of her eyes and a cross of her arms. "Just pick a potion- preferably one that you can handle."

Sora's brows knotted, as he pondered the lists of potions that he'd always wanted to concoct. His lower lip stuck out and he tapped his fingers against his crossed arms. It was priceless and Nia couldn't help but smile at him as she tried to stifle a random outburst of laughter.

Sora rose his eyes only to glare through his acorn bangs. There was a hint of annoyance in his voice as well. "What are you laughing at?" he demanded.

Nia simply reached out her hand, not letting Sora's growl deter her, and playfully patted his head, "You're just so cute when you're trying to think."

"What, exactly, is that supposed to mean,_ Nia_?!" he inquired swatting Nia's delicate-looking hand away from his head. He knew he shouldn't take offence to the comment, but it was a bit uncalled for.

"I-I mean your concentration," Nia giggled, unable to hold back her amusement any longer, "You're pouting again."

Sora scoffed and turned away from his friend to "concentrate" without Nia's scrutinizing eyes.

"Aww, Sora." Nia cooed in mock pity, "Don't be that way. Hey, have you thought of a potion, yet? The sooner we get started, the sooner we can have our results."

So she was trying to butter him up, was she . . . Damnit! It was working. Ever since they were children, Sora had never been able to refuse Nia when she got this way.

"How about a paradigm potion?" He groaned as he turned to face the other witch to find a bright smile and matching hazel-green eyes.

"I love paradigm potions!" she exclaimed as she began to sort out the ingredients they would need, "Fore or Aft?"

Sora took a moment to think glancing at all of the drawings on the wall, remembering all of the times that went with them. With that nostalgia in his face, Nia could see Sora come to his decision.

"Fore."

Wait- what?!

The confused look on Nia's face was enough for Sora to laugh, finally, getting his own turn at the act. He gave his explanation before Nia could even pose a question.

"Childhood was fun and all, don't get me wrong, but it already happened. Why not sneak a peek into whatever's to come? Not too much, because I know the rules about messing with time. I just want to see, not travel."

Nia nodded in agreement. "Hence the paradigm, right?"

"Right."

"Well, then, let's get started." Nia cheered as she re-sorted the ingredients to fit Fore-paradigm, "Sora, you start preheating the main ingredients and the cauldron and I'll go and get the—"

There was a buzzing that cut her off and a muffled tune came soon afterward. Nia extracted her cell phone just as the tune neared the chorus.

_Complicated . . . X-rated . . . _

Flipping open her phone, she cheered into the receiver. "Lin! No . . . no . . . I'm here giving Sora a lesson . . . No, we're getting ready to do a paradigm potion. Yeah, I know. Sora knows too. We're just going to look we're not going to actually go there. No more mistakes . . . what . . .? Yeah- he's right here! Say 'Hi' Sora!"

"Hi, Sora!" Sora replied cheerfully.

"Stop playing around!" Nia smiled giving Sora a playful shove.

"Hey, Lin!" Sora corrected as he settled the small cauldron atop his flame.

"That's better," Nia condoned as she stood, wiping her white pedal-pushers free of any unwanted substances. She picked up her pail and made her way outside, "Now, Sora, you stay here and finish the preparations. I'll go and get water for the potion . . . Hello, Lin. No, later, I'm free, why . . . ?"

Knowing that he had more than enough time, Sora scattered the needed ingredients before him as well as a small box of Nia's scribbled spells, looking for the one they would be needing for fore-paradigm. He knew it from the little doodles on the top of the index card. He found the familiar laughing spider in the upper left-hand corner and he knew he had found the right card.

Steps One through Five: All prep stuff he had already done.

Step Six: Roast and shell three Kupo nuts.

Step Seven: Using a mortar and pestle grind Kupo nuts into a fine powder.

"Great." Sora groaned once again, "No wonder she left me to do this. Doesn't she have some of this stuff already ground- or something?"

Might as well get started.

Cupping his hands together, Sora trapped said nuts and, once again heated the air around his hands. A few more minutes of this and the nuts would be cooked and dried enough to grind into a powder. Sora scooted himself backward so that his back was against the cool wall of the cave, giving him a place to rest as he waited.

Outside, he could hear the running of the small waterfall near the entrance and it was because of the waterfall that he could not hear whatever it was that Nia was saying to Lin- the perfect cover-up. Sora would have to remember to congratulate Nia on her choice later. Inside, Sora was able to relax a little, as he maintained two simultaneous Fires. The waterfall's sound carried to him through the skylight and again, was the perfect white-noise to soothe him as he tried to concentrate on his tasks.

When he was startled awake by a crackling sound, however, Sora thought that maybe he was paying a little bit too much attention to the waterfall. He let the heat from his hands die down immediately and stared down at his slightly over-cooked Kupo nuts; the blackened shells cracked and a super-sweet smell filled the entire cave, threatening to make him sick. They should still be good enough for potion-making though, right? After all, isn't that what happened when chestnuts were roasted?

"Damnit!" he growled to himself as he gathered Nia's mortar and pestle. Cracking the nuts even more with the pestle, Sora was able to get most of the Kupo nuts out of the shell, though it would have been a bit easier to do had he the power to cool things as simply as he heated them. Great, now, because of his shelling, his hands would smell like Kupo nuts for an entire week.

Placing the nuts into the mortar, Sora set himself on the task of grinding them. The shelling process had helped break them down slightly into approximate quarters, but from there; the actual grinding would be a tedious task. There was something about the sweet smell of those damned nuts that wanted to make him pass out again, but against that, he stayed awake to continue the monotonous task of grinding.

Frowning a little at what little progress he had made in the next few minutes, Sora was determined to keep going, to finish this so that he may have a chance to see what secrets, what adventures, what relationships, waited for him in his future. His mind was set. His expression was fixed. His thoughts focused. So much so, in fact, that he didn't notice the faint greenish light that emanated from the crushed bits of Kupo nut as it was crushed between mortar and pestle. And he only barely noticed as the glow began brighten.

He had only a second to think to himself,_ 'Woah- that's never happened before.'_ Before the light engulfed him, throwing him backward so he crashed against the wall. There was a strong gust of wind that soon followed whipping his hair in little belts against his face as he struggled to keep his eyes open against it all. A new light shone through the darkness as well; something from the innermost part of the cave. Squinting, Sora saw an outline against the giant boulder that was there.

The door . . .

Sora's etchings from earlier that day as well as those from years past shone with a blinding luminosity, as if becoming engraved on the stone itself. The boulder, however was no longer so, but the large wooden door from his dreams. There was no knob, no latch, no way of getting the door open, but it was there just the same, and what's more, it was _real_.

"N-Nia!!" Sora tried to yell, only to have his voice stolen from him as it attempted to leave his lips. "Nia! Come see this."

The last thing to materialize was the keyhole in the center of the door that he had drawn in just that day. With it, the door was complete and it wasted little to no time opening, sending a second gust of gale-force winds toward Sora. Dust and rock were kicked up and _whooshed_ past him barely missing him, nicking is arms as he raised them to defend his face. New pricks of pain stung his arms as the rocks hit, his blood unnoticed, as he struggled to keep his breath. Even with his head turned away from the wind, he couldn't draw in a breath. It was as if the air was being stolen from him as well, trying to make him suffocate as some sort of punishment for drawing in a door that had no business being there to begin with.

His vision clouded and became dark as he made a desperate attempt to turn tail and escape the cave. It wasn't without a warning, however. Another blast of wind hit his back, forcefully turning him, and the warning was issued.

**_A test awaits you, Sora. Alone, you cannot hope to pass. _**

A final blow hit him with more force than the others. This one seemed to be more precisely aimed as well, knocking his remaining breath out of him completely, in a shattering scream that felt as if it came from someone other than himself. If it wasn't for the harsh sting in his throat, Sora would have thought the voice on that of an outsider's.

He was toppled over by the door's force and he fell backward hitting hard against the ground. He was unconscious before his body realized he had fallen.

The door closed and the wind ceased. The plant life settled once again as if it had never been disturbed. The only evidence that anything had happened at all was the fading glow of Sora's etches against stone.

- a -

With a deep moan, he opened an eye against the harsh rays of the early-morning sun. As usual, a heavy and muscular arm was draped over his hip, keeping him warm through the morning chill. It was with this typical awareness that the Third Level Ice Summoner woke with that infernal ringing in his ears. _Another_ job . . . so soon? Wasn't it just the other day that he had come in from one of those? He was used to having at least a week to himself before being sent away again.

His green eyes narrowed through the nearly deafening noise in his head and, raking his fingers through the knotted, still-slightly-sweaty, silver of his hair, Riku stirred, grabbing out into the air at nothing in particular. His fist clenched around air. Did he _have_ to get another summons; now of all times?

Opening his fist, he glared at the small piece of paper that was now there. What poor soul was he responsible for now?

He unfolded the note and squinted through the light and the lingering haze of sleep, trying to read it. There was a single name written there along with a brief location. Well, damn! He figured that his week long vacation would have to wait.

With a sigh, Riku looked over to the sleeping form next to him, his loose, jet black hair splayed like a halo around his relaxed features. His usual burgundy-colored eyes were shielded from the morning behind the butterscotch tone of his unworried eyelids. It was in this state that the sleeping figure seemed the closest to actually being innocent. The delicate lines of his little-less-than-feminine face was settled in a way that told Riku that this form was obviously still tired from last night, and he noticed then, that said form hadn't budged- not even the slightest acknowledgment that he had received a message at all. Maybe this mission was for Riku alone.

Hiro would have to wait. First, Riku had to figure out what the deal was with this _"Sora"_ person.

* * *

**Ending Little Tid-bit Thingy:** Okay, so you have the first chapter now! Yay for you! So . . . how was it? Too much all at once? Not enough information? What didn't you get and I'll try to explain it for you. Please-please-please let me know.

R&R and you shall receive!

-Anigo


	2. Unforseen Paradigm

**Disclaimers:**

Oops! I forgot to add these on the last chapter, oh well, no one really reads these things anyway.

I do not own the rights to Kingdom Hearts, just the game.

Everything that is not related to the KH saga, I actually do own. I have a partial share to Nia. She belongs to my friends and me so she's mine. Taiyo is mine. Hiro is mine! If it looks like mine, it's mine. If I had it five minutes ago, it's mine. If I like it, it's mine. If you're holding it and I want it, it's mine . . . that is if I was a toddler . . . (clears throat) ahem. On with the rest of it!

**Author's little tid-bit thingy:** (As if the preceding wasn't enough) Okay, this chapter's been written for about a week now, but I guess was having problems or something . . . or maybe it was just my computer . . . oh well. It's here! Chapter 2 and if you're confused at this point, that's a good thing! You're not supposed to know everything up front. Keep reading, and you'll find out the answers to all of your questions (if you remember to ask them)

And to Sora: THANK YOU! It was SO great to hear from you again after so long! I'm sorry I haven't been keeping up with you lately, but I hope this morning made up for that. I promise that I won't do that to you again! I'll keep in touch. I'm sorry and I love you.

Now for the moment you all have been waiting for! Chapter two of Magic of the Heart!

_**Chapter two: Unforseen Paradigm**_

It was with an unusual scent that Sora stirred. The sun shining directly in his face, Was it that late already? Usually, it was pretty late in the afternoon that the sun would reach the skylight in the Secret Place. And just when had he fallen asleep? What had happened to Nia's potions lesson?

Hesitantly, Sora opened an eye, being sure to shield his eyes from the sun's rays. When had he gone outside? And what was with that smell? Sora rolled over from his spot on the ground to sit on his knees.

"What the-"

What was with any of it? Nothing he saw was familiar. The usual palm trees, sand and ocean of his island were missing and, as if someone had ordered for a change of scenery, the backdrop had been switched. A tall, mountain range was visible on the horizon, the snowy caps contrasted and blended almost seamlessly against the clear blue of the sky. Palm had been replaced with pine. Ocean had been replaced by thick forest, and sand had been replaced with the semi-softness of lush grass . . .

. . . that was soaking straight through his pants.

Hadn't he put on shorts earlier today . . . ?

With a swift motion, Sora sprung to his feet only to find himself barefoot and the morning dew of the grass beneath him dampened them as well.

Wait . . . morning!?

How long had he been asleep? And more importantly, how had he ended up in this place (wherever "this place" was). Sora's blue eyes darted around for any sign of familiarity, but to no avail. There was absolutely nothing here that sparked any memory of what had happened or that even remotely explained where he was, or where his home had gone.

He had to find someone. There should be something here that could help, tell him what was going on, where he was, if there was any way of getting back home. Maybe there was a town around, a village, a _prison_, _something_ that would have people around to give him some sort of security.

Wait! What about.

"Nia!"

Maybe she had ended up here as well. After all, wasn't she with him when . . .?

When . . .

Woah . . . he really couldn't remember anything. The last thing that stood out in his mind was the paradigm potion that he and Nia were going to make. He had been grinding Kupo nuts before . . .

He had waken up on this wet grass with no memory of which to speak.

That wasn't going to help him any when he actually did meet up with another living creature. And neither was standing around waiting for someone to find him. If this really was another world, then he couldn't count on anyone trying to find him.

Well, damn!

With another look around, Sora decided to head toward the forest he'd seen, perhaps there would be hunters there and if that was the case, he could ask him for his bearings and maybe directions to the nearest town. Although, instinct told him to stay away from thick forests, his logic told him that it was most likely his best bet.

So, a little hesitantly, Sora began into the forest. Almost instantly grazing his foot on the sharp surface of a boulder, he remembered that he had no footwear.

Well damn again!

-g-

Riku kept his gaze lowered feeling cold in the large chamber. It was void of any furniture, any color, any warmth, and any life. There was hardly any light, save for a few sparse candles in their wall mounts, flickering dim colors onto the blank surfaces of the marble supports surrounding him. He shifted his weight from foot to foot trying to suppress his discomfort as he awaited the host. His Master, he would be the one who would explain exactly what to do when he encountered this "Sora" from the summons. The Master had always given Riku the creeps, to say the least and the empty dark state of his briefing room only heightened that feeling. His eyes were dark and looming as if he could look straight through any façade, any mask Riku could possibly build up. It always managed to give the younger man a sense of foreboding.

"No doubt you already know why it is you are here."

Riku winced at the low booming growl of his Master that only reverberated through the chamber after bouncing off the empty walls. He hadn't even heard the approach and that alone was enough to make Riku even more on edge with this man, considering that the room was one big sound shell, amplifying anything that shifted. There was absolutely no telling what would come from him next. This man had been Hiro's Superior during his apprentiship, which meant that there was no doubt that he was very strong indeed and this, immediately, made him Riku's master as well as Hiro's.

"Yes, sir. I know." Was Riku's response and he was pleased to hear that his voice had come out as steadily as he wanted, despite how he felt.

"Yet you are . . ." he seemed to be searching for the right word to use as he took a dramatic pause, ". . . concerned."

Riku merely nodded, not daring to look his Master in the eye.

"Tell me, child. What is your trouble?"

Riku clenched his fists, staring down at the polish on the unmoving tiled floors as if it was his worst enemy. It was that damned "child" tone again. Sure, Riku may have been the youngest of this group, but after twenty winters, he was hardly a "child" any longer. But as much as it bothered him to still be referred as such, he could never say it aloud.

"Why me? Why don't you just send Hiro for this like any other time? Surely you find him more qualified."

The Master let out a small chuckle that, somehow, seemed to carry clearly through the massive space of the room, "You see, Riku. It is that type of attitude that makes you childish. You wish to prove your worth do you not? You wish not to stand in the shadow of my apprentice. I am merely giving you the opportunity you desire. Will you not take it and use it to attain your wish?"

Perhaps, he had let too much through after all. The Master had read him yet again. Riku frowned at that.

"But why did you choose me for _this_ mission? What makes me a more likely choice than Hiro?"

Though he didn't look up to see, Riku could almost literally feel the smile coming from the man across from him as the dark voice hummed and Riku couldn't help but ask himself what the Hell was so funny about that.

"Hiro does not possess the . . . _drive_ required for this type of mission, nor does he have the passion."

"And I do . . ." it was a skeptical statement. He was expecting an explanation.

He got it.

"You see the name on your summons, Riku?"

"Yes, sir." Riku answered in a passive tone as he prepared himself for the explanation that awaited him, "The name is Sora Tamashii."

"And he is the son of Kiba."

That was all Riku needed to hear. His eyes snapped up and he finally looked up at the Master. As expected, the elder man had a dark studying grin spread across his sharp features. His white bangs fell framing his face, drawing attention to his dark bronze- colored eyes. The whole of his features were cast in shadow making the eyes glow maliciously in what little light the candles had to offer, and it dawned on Riku then, that this was the look the Master had been going for when he had decided not to style his hair this morning, but leave it loose; especially in the dim and wavering candlelight. The thought was haunting as was the result.

"Tell me." Riku demanded, his fists clenching more tightly, "What should I do?"

-e-

". . . Sora!! SORA!!"

Nia had heard the screaming from inside the cave and had immediately dropped her pail by the waterfall and hung up with Lin before running straight back into the Secret Place, to find Sora's almost lifeless body sprawled out on the cave floor. His arms were blood-stained and his face had been cut as well.

He _was_ breathing; however, it was shallow and irregular. But the one thing that stood out the most had to have been his eyes, wide and expressionless, his face, turned slightly to the side so that he was staring blankly upward at the ceiling and the creeping vines stretching across it. The color had almost completely left this face and his mouth was ajar. It gave him a horrified look as if someone had come in specifically to scare the shit out of him. Upon discovering him in this state, Nia had promptly shut his eyes, ridding him of the expression.

She had been calling his name for at least five minutes now and was shaking his body almost violently, meriting no response from him whatsoever. There was no waking him and there was no comforting him.

"Damnit, Sora!" she pleaded crumpling beside him lowering her head to his chest choking back a desperate sob, "Wake up already!"

It was in this state that she felt something off. Sora's heartbeat was . . . sporadic. It wasn't a steady beat even a rapid one to match his breathing. Sora's heart was unstable, to say the very least.

His life was in danger.

Grabbing her cell phone and quickly flipping it open, Nia pushed a single number- the speed dial to Sora's house. The phone rang twice before a cheerful voice answered.

"Oh Hiya, Nia!" the voice chimed, "You missed me so much that you had too call so soon? Or . . ." she paused to register the different reasons behind the call and seemed to come to a conclusion, "What has Sora done this time?"

Nia sighed as she faced the one thing she had been dreading and it nearly broke her heart to have to tell Sora's mother what was going on with her son, "Taiyo, we've got a problem."

-c-

About an hour later, Sora had to admit to himself that he was utterly lost, but . . . then again, hadn't he been lost since the very beginning? He kept walking none the less, beginning to wonder if there were any other life forms around that were capable of intelligent thought.

A little while back he thought he had heard running water, and he was in pursuit of this water for a little over a half an hour, before he lost the sound completely. There was, however, an abundance of colorful birds and even a few woodland creatures, squirrels, chipmunks, things of the like. At first, he had been completely fascinated by the creatures, because, growing up on an island, he had never seen them outside of books and television.

But there was no other _human_ around, nothing to make conversation with. So . . . he was still lost. And aside from "in the middle of the forest" Sora had now way of telling where he was at all.

"Damn it _all_!" he growled to himself. He tugged on the ends of his unruly spikes, threatening to rip out any strands he grabbed onto. He was beginning to feel weary from all of his traveling, searching without anything to show for it . . . weary and frustrated. His legs were tired and his feet shuffled across the grass because of the lack of strength his legs put in trying to move them. The grass felt really nice against his bare feet that seemed as if they would tear from trying to navigate through the thick woods. There was nothing around and, without any direction, Sora was starting to feel as- if- he . . . had . . . been . . .

Wasn't that the same boulder he'd seen an hour ago when he'd first come into this maze of a forest!?

Without really thinking, Sora kicked in blind fury.

"AW! SHIT!"

. . . To remember, once again, that he had no shoes.

Letting out a small string of curses, Sora gave a deep pout (and he was thankful that Nia wasn't around to comment on it) and crossed his arms as he decided to use the boulder as a makeshift seat as he planned his next move. His cheeks were a deep shade of red now from all of the frustration pumping through his body by way of his blood.

There had to be some way to find a town around here. That is, unless, he really _was_ out in the middle of nowhere . . . in which case . . .

Sora growled again, however, this time, the noise was more pathetic, more of a whine. "I give up."

"Well, that would be an unwise thing to do, now, wouldn't it?"

-o-

Massaging his pounding head, squinting through the blinding sunlight, Riku shuffled to the couch on the far side of the living quarters of the small house he shared with his hunting partner. From the look of it, the older man was most likely either still sleeping or he had gone out for the morning, still under the impression that they had at least a week away from work.

Well, he was _half_ right anyway . . .

Sighing, Riku let himself sink into the comforting embrace of the couch cushions and tilted his head backward, letting his eyes drift shut before the blank white of the ceiling could blind him any further.

Finally, after eleven years of waiting, hoping, searching for answers, the explanation was actually being _given_ to him. The end of all of his searching, the reason behind the disappearance of his childhood, the truth about what had happened to Mahrya all of those years ago.

And the common thread between them all had been Kiba. All of Riku's hopes on the matter had been shattered when Kiba died. But now that this "Sora" was around, that hope had been renewed. So that's why the Master had chosen him over Hiro, he knew that Riku had been waiting for such an occasion ever since he was a child. A chance to confront the cause of his nightmares, the reason why he would wake up in the middle of the night with silent tears stinging within him, seeking the comfort of the man in the other room.

Riku was lost in this thought, feeling strangely alone and cold all of a sudden, despite the comfortable air in the room. His breath became short and shallow as he fought with himself, choking back tears. As the feeling deepened to the point that he feared ending up like those times in his dreams, he felt a pair of long muscular arms cross over his chest pressing him into the couch cushion at his back and trapping him in place as firm lips descended upon his own, shifting comfortably against him through years of experience. Riku sighed again into the upside-down kiss, feeling the other presence tighten its embrace and he couldn't help but smile at the comfort it presented.

The lips pulled away slowly, being sure to nip at Riku's lower lip in the process. As Riku opened his eyes in slight protest, he noted the deep burgundy eyes that smiled back at him.

"That's better." Hiro commented, his voice, as dark as night and as smooth as silk. "You looked way too serious there. What's eating you . . . you know, the 'you' I haven't gotten to yet?"

Riku lifted himself to glare upside-down over the back of the couch, just in time to see Hiro rake his thin fingers through the ebony recesses of his uneven mane. It was soaking wet and clinging to whatever it managed to grab hold of. The longer lengths of it plastered on his face, chin and neck as the shorter back-end strands only reached to the nape of his neck. It did, however, match the rest of him perfectly. The lean body of the older man was shining in the sunlight, obviously naked beneath the slight covering of the terrycloth about his narrow hips. Water trailed down the darkened skin making it glitter momentarily, only to be absorbed by the cloth.

"You'll have to do better than that, Hiro." Riku growled, picking up on Hiro's intentions immediately, and, just as quickly as he had been comforted by the man's presence, he was annoyed by it.

Hiro merely gave a soft smile as he mockingly applauded Riku from his position, "I guess so. Heh- that used to be all it took to get you all worked up and over me like some sort of crazed animal." His smile turned devilish, "With a raging hard-on and all."

Riku frowned, biting his lip in exasperation, "I was thirteen." He said plainly.

Hiro put a hand to his chin as if thinking the last comment over. He put on a mock frown before grinning down at Riku's upturned face. "Ahh! That's right! That critical age when _everything_ turns you on and you're just starting to channel those new emotions into more . . . productive activities."

Riku gave a deep growl as his features contorted into a disapproving scowl. With a scoff, he settled himself back into the couch.

Hiro shook his head and leaned himself against the back of Riku's chair being sure to dip his head down until his hair was dripping mercilessly onto Riku, earning another growl from the younger man.

"So, Riku . . ." he sighed nuzzling his face into the other man's neck. He didn't see Riku's annoyed expression or the way that his lips curled or his sharp green eyes as they narrowed in irritation, "Where were you? When I woke up this morning, you weren't there . . . it was really . . . cold and lonely without you."

"Poor, baby." was Riku's sarcastic response, as he shoved Hiro aside and drying his shoulder of the now-chilled pool at his neck, "Next time, I'll be sure to leave a note, or a pillow for you to fondle."

"Oh! Would you really!?" Hiro cheered re-wrapping his arms around Riku and letting out a short playful chuckle, "Thank you! Now, I'll never have to masturbate again!"

Riku choked on nothing in particular as he slumped in his seat, trying to escape the grip of his partner.

"Don't get jealous, Babe. I know. It's exactly what I told you when the Master assigned us to one another and . . ." Hiro drew in a meaningless sniff as if trying to hold back joyful tears, "All of our problems were solved. Don't worry, though. I promise that I won't replace you with a pillow. You'll always be my number one outlet."

'_Oh, joy.'_ He almost muttered it aloud; instead, Riku only cleared his throat as he turned his head to address Hiro directly, "Go put on some clothes."

Hiro put on a wide grin as he released the younger man, but not before a parting word. Leaning in, Hiro left a soft whisper at the shell of Riku's ear.

"Don't get too comfortable."

Riku's expression was one of realized shock. He knew exactly what was coming, but he also knew that there was nothing that he could do to get out of it.

Hiro made a slight nip at Riku's ear and pulled away completely, before disappearing into the bedroom, chuckling the entire way.

Once the door was shut, however, the smile faded. Something was very wrong here and Hiro decided, then, to find out what was distracting Riku so much. Why was he so tense all of a sudden?

And, somehow, Hiro knew it had something to do with the Master.

**Ending little tid-bit thingy:** So, confused yet? By a show of hands, how many of you are actually following this? I promise to all of you, I will answer any and all questions in due time. If you stick around, you guys are in for a ride once this really gets going! There's just so much to see!

But you'll have to wait until next time! And I'll try to have that out ASAP. I promise!

Until next time, much luv.

-Anigo


	3. Newcomer

**Disclaimer:**

No I still don't own Kingdom Hearts, but everything else is mine. I mean it! No one even _think_ of taking my forest or my town, or else I'll have to get my "posse" (who actually live there) to come after you.

**Warning:**

Slightly OOC Sora as far as the game is concerned, but not for this story. Honestly though, who can go through crap like that and still be optimistic all of the time? So maybe he's true to more of a real person- a person who is just tired and pissed off. Well, I'm sure Riku will take care of that soon enough. (He's slightly OOC too, but just because he hasn't had much to do yet.)

**Authour's Little Tid-bit Thingy:** 'Ello everyone! It's time for yet another round of "Wheel! of! Tourture!!!!" No no- just kidding. With any luck, this chapter will be anything but torturous. Though, I must warn you, it felt a little bit slow while I was writing it, probably because it was about 2:00 a.m. and I was constantly being distracted by plenty of outside forces, but none the less, here it is!!! Yay! I'm so happy! And maybe now a certain "Voodoo Witch" will stop pestering me about updating. HERE IT IS, NIA!!! HAPPY NOW!?!?

Heh . . . think she heard me?

* * *

_**Chapter Three: Newcomer**_

Sora spun so quickly that he thought he would fall over from his momentum. After almost complete silence ever since his arrival, he wasn't expecting to hear anyone else speak, and, the fact that the other speaker had addressed him so suddenly, really hadn't helped at all.

When Sora turned to face whoever it was that had accosted him, however, there was no sign, whatsoever, of anyone that could have spoken.

"Who's there!?" he demanded, his blue eyes, darting around in search of any movement that might suggest at someone's presence, "Show yourself!"

The response was complete silence. Whoever had been there before, must've already left.

Putting on a frown and deciding to ignore that strange non-encounter, Sora turned again to plot out his next move. Turning his attention back toward the dense wood, he tried to remember where he had gone when he had last left this spot. Before, he had been traveling blindly, unsure of even where to put his feet when he had been walking. But after venturing out into the forest once, he at least knew where _not_ to go.

"It is quite alright young one. It is very easy for one with such inexperience to become bewildered and lost."

Sora spun once again, absolutely certain that there was someone around. The voice was hushed, whispered as if it wanted no one to know it was there.

"I won't ask again!" Sora snapped in a bitter tone, sick of the mind games some twisted person must have been forcing him through, "Who are you!? Show yourself!"

"Do you not see me, child?" the whisper inquired, "Then, perhaps the reason you have lost your way is because you lack the ability of sight."

"I'm not blind!" Sora retorted scanning the area for anything capable of speech.

"Blind . . ." the whisper asked, "What is this?"

Sora sighed, "I am not sightless."

"I apologize for my assumptions, but I do not understand how it is that you cannot see me, for I am here in plain sight."

"How is that . . . I don't see anything here but a bunch of trees."

"Precisely."

Sora froze, "What!?"

"What you see is truth."

"You're a tree!?"

"Technically, I am of the genus Cedrus deodara."

". . ."

"I am a Cedar. A Red Cedar to be precise."

"Are you now?" Sora was way beyond confused. Everything he had experienced thus far was screaming, "DREAM!! YOU'RE DREAMING!" and if it wasn't for the throbbing in his feet, he would have believed the screams. Taking another quick look around, he turned his attention back toward the whispering tree, "Then I guess you'd know a lot about this forest, right?"

The tree seemed to hum at that, "I do. There are many stories that cross my roots as well as those of my comrades."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sora asked, a bit impatiently.

"We trees like to gossip. There is not much else to do, but talk after all. Ah- there was once a very lovely story about a young couple that met very near here. They absolutely hated each other at first meeting, but once they started encountering one another more often, I guess you could say they- well- grew attached to one—"

"And I'm sure that _would_ make a lovely story." Sora interrupted, his voice dripping sarcasm. He was in no mood to listen to old love stories at the moment. Any other time, he would have most likely taken a seat to hear the whole thing out, but today, however, after his misadventure, going through the forest once only to come out exhausted and half starved, he only wanted one thing. "Please, tell me, Cedar, is there a town nearby?"

"Find the EverWinding River," the tree began, a bit of indignation in its whisper now. There seemed to be a hurried rustle in the leaves as it spoke, "Along its banks follow. You will soon discover a trail that will surely lead you to the human village of Visan. And please, refer to me as Mori. I do not enjoy ignorant fools who refer to me only by my category, Human."

"If that's the way you feel about it!" Sora snapped back, still unsure as to which of the many trees he was yelling, "You can call me by my name! It's Sora, not Human!"

The tree then made a strange noise that sounded suspiciously like scoffing. "Very well, _Sora_. Enter the wood, and listen for the river. But I advise you not to trust your ears for guidance."

Sora was more than confused by this remark and he crossed his arms staring into the ground as if it was the one that was speaking to him in riddles. "Wait . . . I'm supposed to _listen_ for the river, but I'm not supposed to trust my ears . . . then- what? Do I listen with my nose!?"

The strange scoff from before was now an airy laughter, "Nay, young one. I meant only that you listen for the river, but do not follow the sound. It will mislead you. You see the other trees, who also enjoy gossip, take pleasure in ridiculing lost humans. It is the little bit of entertainment they receive aside from the gossip."

There was more rustling of the leaves at this, from more than one tree, it seemed and to Sora, it was like a crowd booing, whining. The other trees were _reprimanding_ the Cedar. For giving away their secrets . . .? Sora looked around in curiosity wondering which trees were making which noises, that is until one tree rustled even more loudly with a near- violent shake of her limbs.

"That is quite enough, girls!" She snapped, clicking her branches together and demanding attention, "It is obvious that this Sora is fatigued. It is only proper that we allow him into town to rest."

So that was the Cedar tree he had been talking with. Extremely tall in height, she seemed as if she belonged further into the forest in the more dense foliage. Her trunk, a beautiful shade of brown that indeed was red in tint, was several arms lengths around and would call for several people if anyone had ever wanted to hug it. Her limbs were thick in most places and it was obvious that she was able to support a lot of weight, if children were ever bold enough, not to mention tall enough, to even attempt to scale her.

" . . . Obviously," She was in the middle of saying, ". . . this is his first time in The Venagai forest and it is up to us to ensure that he finds the human village before nightfall."

"Hello," Sora nearly sang as he uncrossed his arms to wave and gain attention, "I'm right here."

"Indeed you are," Mori whispered her rustling leaves again, her whisper becoming more controlled in polite speech. "Was there anything else that you required before you made your venture into town?"

Sora frowned slightly, thinking it over. "How do I find the river if I can't use my ears?"

"Why, do as you have suggested. Why not listen with your nose?"

"You mean, sniff it out . . ." an incredulous statement.

"Indeed."

Sora nodded once, still brandishing his faint frown, as he turned back into the forest. Before he'd made it too far, something else came to mind and he whirled back to speak again to the Cedar.

"Is there anyone in the town that could help me once I'm there? I'll need a place to stay for the night, after all."

The tree hummed again and she seemed to be swaying a bit in thought. "I suppose you may be able to bargain with the innkeeper on the edge of town, though he seems to me to be more of the introverted type."

"And his name? I mean, so I can find him." Sora sighed hopefully, expectantly.

"Squall."

Sora smiled genuinely at the tree. It was his first real smile since his arrival in this crazy world. "Squall, right." And he turned back to head into the forest once more, "Thank you, Mori!"

-m-

Nia's head snapped up as she heard someone enter. The door creaked slightly, as if trying to keep as quiet as possible, as it granted that someone entrance. The sound of loafers on linoleum filled the quiet room of the small island's hospital.

"Taiyo . . ." Nia's shrunken voice whispered through the still evening air, "You're here."

The elder brunette nodded once, a worried expression on her features as she took a seat next to the bed, "How is he?"

Nia lowered her head, as she continued to stroke the back of Sora's frigid hand with her thumb and a relieved sigh escaping before she gave her answer. "Much better now, thank God. His heart is stable and his breathing has returned to normal."

"But . . ." Taiyo prompted, sensing there was more than that beyond the explanation. She kept her eyes on her son's expressionless face as he lay in slumber, bringing her hand up and over to gently move his bangs from his eyes. His usual bright blue eyes lidded, shielded by eyelids that didn't seem as if they would open. She tilted her head and brushed her thumb against his cold cheek, disturbed by its temperature. She took note of the bandages on his face and around his arms.

"But," Nia continued, "He's not waking up. The doctors can't tell why. They say that he should be awake by now and that there is nothing seriously wrong with him." Nia's voice rose in pitch and she fought with herself to keep her tears from returning, "I don't know what happened. One second, he was fine, we were getting ready to do a paradigm potion, he was preparing the ingredients and I was getting water, Lin called and Sora said hi to him and I went outside and I was filling the pail and all of a sudden I heard him screaming for me and so I dropped the pail and hung up my phone and went back to him and I found him like this only worse. I don't know what happened to him, why he's like this now, why he won't wake up! Oh, God, Taiyo. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I should've been there! I should've—"

"Shhh." Taiyo comforted reaching over and taking Nia's trembling hand, she lowered her head to look Nia in the eyes and gave her a soft smile, tightening her grip. "You _were_ there, Nia. It's because you were there that Sora's okay now. He needed you and you were there to help him. That's what matters."

Nia sniffled as she raised her free hand to wipe away unwanted tear trails, her greenish brown eyes still glassy with tears unshed, "Thank you, Taiyo."

The older woman sighed and her smile sank slightly. "It's getting late," she began in a sigh, "You should be getting home now, before your parents start worrying about you."

Nia merely shook her head, giving her own smile of encouragement, "They now I'm here, and I told them that I'd stay with Sora." She let out a short chuckle that felt a little misplaced given the current situation, "You'll have to try harder than that if you _really_ want to get rid of me."

Taiyo's smile returned, "Alright then. How about I make us some tea? It's going to be a long night."

-e-

Finally! After what felt like another three hours following that stupid river, (and having no watch, he couldn't really tell) Sora happened across a small trail that hadn't even seemed as if it had been traveled at all. Following that for about two hours, it felt, he began to see signs of human life. Smoke from small fires the smell of food. The wooden tops of a small town! Along the outskirts of this town was a larger building, looking as if it may be able to fit the entire town's population within its walls.

Releasing a long sigh, a mix between relief and exhaustion, Sora headed toward the building in hopes of finding this "Squall" person.

Slowly pushing the heavier- than- anticipated door open, he was a bit surprised to find it teeming with people. Maybe it actually _could_ fit the entire town's population inside. Sora took a sweeping glance at the interior of the building and was astounded. Wasn't this supposed to be an inn? The setup was more like a pub from those books he had read. The air was heavy with musk and ale. High stools were stationed everywhere for the customers sitting two per table, along with shorter, wider tables for those who would come in with larger and, likely, more rambunctious parties. Sora saw four- tops, six- tops, and even an eight-top booth to accommodate such groupings. This was probably the only place the tiny village had for entertainment and, once setting eyes (and nose) on it, it wasn't very surprising anymore that it was so full. Maybe this wasn't the inn after all.

At his arrival, several heads turned toward him, studying for a short moment before ignoring him completely and returning to their drinks. Sora stared back, examining the scrutinizing faces, looking for anyone who could possibly know Squall. He decided to go with the most obvious place to start looking and took a seat at the bar. With any luck, he wouldn't be thrown out because he looked too young to drink . . . or better yet, maybe the drinking age was lower here than it was back home.

Turning again to sit with his back to the counter and lean his elbows on the countertop, he looked back out to the clientele for any sign of anything that could possibly point him in the right direction. With a name like "Squall" he had to be one fearsome man. There were a few tough looking guys off in the corner all diving head-first into their mugs of alcohol. Their loud guffawing almost automatically turned Sora away, but who knew, maybe Squall was one such guy. Keeping them in mind, maybe to use as future reference, he turned to scan the rest of the inhabitants. The rest seemed to only be dark figures trying to forget some terrible event of their lives . . . maybe Squall was among these. Mori had said that she thought Squall to be the more introverted type, hadn't she?

Scanning even more, he could see a party of two men sitting in one of the high stooled tables huddled over their drinks. It seemed as if they were discussing something adamantly. The darker haired one seemed to be enjoying the outing, drinking deeply from his perspiring mug. He seemed to be a little tipsy with his swayed movements as he attempted to rake back his dark locks that were obviously too short for the pony-tail he had tried to put it in, and the sudden outburst of laughter as he clumsily grabbed outward toward the man in front of him. Sora could swear he saw a flash of something silver jerk away quickly in response to the man's reach.

"Hey, kid." Growled a deep voice from behind, startling him from his studies, "You looking for someone or did you want something?"

Sora spun once again, still a bit startled, by the interruption. He grabbed the edge of the bar to steady himself, when he felt as if he would fall.

"Smooth move there." The sudden speaker stated, crossing his arms impatiently, "Look, are you going to order, or am I going to have to find your parents?"

It was then that Sora was able to look past the older man's torso and upward- upward- damn this guy was tall- into his finely featured face, delicately shaped and pointed into a strong, but elegant chin. His eyes were deeply set and seemed almost lost beneath a sea of chocolate as his bangs hung low in his face. Beyond that shoulder-length sea were storms of cool grey trapped within almond-shaped recesses and, for a moment, Sora lost himself within the tempest, unable to look away even for a moment for fear of missing something, too lost to even take offence to the man's last remark.

Sora mentally slapped himself in the head when he noticed the man had raised a questioning eyebrow at him. He had been staring, hadn't he? Damn! How embarrassing! But then, how could he have possibly helped himself? This man had something about him that was just plain . . . bewitching was the only word for it.

Shaking his head in attempt to regain his thoughts, Sora cleared his throat before answering.

"N-no no! I don't drink." He stammered, unclenching his death grip on the poor countertop and letting the blood finally return to his fingers.

"Then," the older brunette prompted, slinging a hip to the side and leaning his weight onto one foot, making his sand-colored apron sway slightly with the movement, "Why have you come? You look too young to hold your own in a place like this."

This time, Sora did take offence and he lowered his eyebrows in a glare. Scoffing, he fixed his gaze on the man crossing his own arms in defiance. "I can take care of myself. I'm just looking for someone, is all."

An eyebrow rose a second time, asking a silent question as fingers drummed impatiently on the top of one crossed arm. This man was really beginning to try Sora's nerves. He felt that the guy should either ask a question, or leave him alone, but don't stand there expectantly, waiting for an answer to a question that was never asked.

So he answered anyway.

"I'm looking for the innkeeper." He replied shortly, quickly. That seemed to be this prick of a barkeep's style anyway.

"Why?"

Sora fumed as his crossed arms tightened. He glared directly into the other man's violent looking eyes and was completely un-intimidated. Even as he noticed the thin scar slanting down his face and over the bridge of his nose, easily hidden by his unkempt bangs, but otherwise disfiguring his perfect features.

_Stop staring_

"Why do you care?"

The barkeep shook his head, muttering to himself as he turned away toward someone else, "I don't have time for this." And he was readily busy again, filling the mugs of those at the bar.

"Hey!" Sora snapped, almost slamming his hands onto the countertop, before thinking better of it, remembering everyone else that was here at the moment and how easily the lot of them could take him, "Hey! Come back here! Don't ignore me like I'm just some unwanted-"

"Keep you're voice down, Kid." The barkeep said in a smooth tone, never turning back to face him as he tended to the other _paying_ customers, who, amazingly, seemed unfazed by Sora's outburst. Perhaps they were just used to such boisterous behavior. "If you act up, I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"Don't talk down to me!" Sora growled, standing from his seat and glowering after the man. This was the last thing he wanted to do after the day he had had. He was tired and he was hungry. He was still lost in a world of complete strangers and scenery stranger still. He was _not_ in _any_ mood to argue with some rat-bastard that thought he could order him around just because he was a bit older than he was. "Just tell me where I can find the innkeeper and I'll go!"

Filling a final mug, the barkeep turned to regard Sora with a set expression, cool and unmoving. "You're not from around here, are you?"

"What's _that_ got to do with anything?!" Sora raged leaning his weight on the counter, giving it a different kind of death grip.

"You've found your innkeeper." The other answered plainly, leveling his now- calm grey eyes with Sora's roaring blue.

"Oh God!" Sora sighed, muttering to himself as he loudly growled again, "You've got to be fucking kidding me! _You're_ Squall!?"

"Shh!" the barkeep demanded curtly, firmly pressing a finger against his full lips. His eyes darted around the room looking for anyone who may have heard the younger man's explosion. After seeing no one staring up at him, he lowered his finger, and glared back at Sora. "My name is Leon." He curled his arms about each other again, studying the teenage boy before him. "What's your business with me, Kid?"

"_My__ name_ is Sora!" the younger male retorted, never tearing his eyes away, "And I was sent to find you by . . ." he stalled, deciding it was probably best to leave the tree out of this, ". . . someone who said you could help me."

Leon hissed almost inaudibly at this and groaned, raking his mane back with one hand, giving Sora a clearer view of his scar. "Another bounty head?" he droned under his breath.

"A _what_? No!" Sora explained, easing away from the counter. "I'm just trying to find a place where I can stay for the night. See, I've been traveling all day and—"

"Listen, Sora." The man named Leon interrupted hanging his head as he seemed to come to a decision. "I don't need to know. Just wait around for the people to head out and I'll take care of the rest."

"But." Sora began, as Squall- rather- Leon turned once again to the rest of the customers, "What do I do until then?"

Leon gave a terse shrug. "Whatever."

Sora frowned watching the older man's back. He had barely noticed when it had stopped moving away. "You're new here, right?"

"Uh- yeah."

"Explore."

-s-

Riku narrowed his gaze from his spot on one of the high stooled tables as the door opened and a smallish figure entered the pub. He seemed to be in his late teenage years, probably only a couple of years younger than Riku himself. His fists were clenched at his sides as his bright sky- colored eyes grazed the faces of the inhabitants. He seemed uncomfortable in this place and it was no wonder he felt so. He sorely stuck out, his messy brown hair, sticking out in all directions with no respect for gravity, his travel-worn clothing was ripped in some places, and it seemed he was barefoot. Another look at him told the silver-haired man that the boy seemed unsure as to what he was really doing in the pub to begin with. He knew he didn't belong, but he had a purpose.

_I'll bet that's him_

Riku released a deep sigh watching as the boy that had come in moved and took a seat, now sitting at the bar, the tattered ends of his thin-looking, grass-stained beige pants trailed as he absently kicked his feet back and forth and scanned the tables, obviously, he was looking for someone. He leaned his bare elbows on the countertop as he studied. Judging by the gold trimming on his sleeveless black tunic, he was a Witch- a Fire Witch to be more accurate. A single golden band adorned his right forearm- a First Level.

And he was looking right at him. His blue eyes, direct, focused, studious.

Of course, Hiro chose this time to regain Riku's attention, brushing his knee against his inner thigh, rubbing in small circles working upward in between his legs, aiming for something else. It was obvious that he was more than just a little drunk and his inhibitions had long since left his mind and his body was starting to obey. Soon, his hand replaced his knee, groping for what his knee couldn't reach, his other hand, reaching out toward him as he released a rather loud giggling sound.

Riku's body tensed as he jerked his head backward to avoid the reach, growling slightly as he swatted the hand away. "Not here."

Another brush of the knees and Riku's attention was stolen by the man sitting across from him. Hiro had no view of the door, so he had no idea what had just happened. All he knew was that his partner was distracted again. And here Hiro was, trying to take him out to clear his mind, have a bit of fun before heading back home. How could he do that if Riku refused to cooperate and loosen up? He watched as Riku thoughtlessly twirled his thin, red mixing straw in small circles through his drink . . . that had no alcohol in it whatsoever! Honestly, who the Hell goes to a fuckin' _pub_ and orders something without alcohol? Apparently, Riku was the only such person.

Hiro studied his partner and the way he lowered his head staring blankly into his glass. He hated when Riku would shut himself off from the world like this. He would close himself off and let absolutely no one in to help. What's more was that it was happening more and more often and he was retreating further and further within himself to the point that not even his hunting partner, his closest companion was able to intervene- unable to snap him out of his somber daze.

Somewhere behind him, there was an argument raging. One voice was easily recognizable as the barkeep. The second voice, from the sound of it, was just some kid who had probably just snuck away from his house to have a few drinks that he wasn't supposed to have.

Turning his head slightly, Hiro gave a scoff to the kid muttering almost incoherently beneath his breath, "Someone should shut that damned kid up. He's like, what, fuckin' twelve?"

Riku lifted his gaze back toward the bar to find the boy clutching onto the countertop absolutely furious with the barkeep, Leon, if he wasn't mistaken. Somehow, he had managed to get yet another customer pissed at him for one reason or another. Tuning his ears in, wanting to hear at least one part of the conversation, Riku tried to confirm the boy's identity.

And lucky for him, he seemed to tune in at just the right time.

"My name is Leon." The barkeep had been saying, keeping his voice low, despite the younger man's temper, "What's your business with me, Kid."

The fire in the boy's disposition seemed thoroughly wild now as he glared at Leon, his fists in tight balls before him on the countertop. "_My_ _name_ is—"

"Hey, Riku." Hiro interrupted, his voice slurring a bit as he waved a hand in front of his dazed-looking friend's face, completely oblivious to the fact that he may have just interrupted the most important sentence ever said, "It's way too damned loud in here don't you think?" a sick smile followed as his hand made its reappearance, stroking the more sensitive flesh on the younger man's inner thigh until he harshly shoved it away.

"Aww, C'mon, Riku." Hiro teased clenching playfully about the skin there, "Lighten up. You've been a moody little shit ever since we got back. What the fuck's you're problem?"

Riku only shook his head, ignoring the other man completely. The boy from the bar was leaving. Great! He had probably gotten tired of Leon and was on his way back to wherever he had come from. There had to be a way to trail him without being conspicuous.

Lowering his eyes toward the table, studying the polished wood there, Riku sighed once again, regretting his sentence even before he had uttered it.

"Hey, Hiro. Let's go for a walk."

* * *

**Ending Little Tid-bit Thingy:** Let's make this fun with a little challenge (Sora, you're exempt because you already know the answer). Did anyone catch how the trees were able to "speak" with Sora? 1000 points to whoever can figure it out. In the story, it's described as a whisper, but _how_ do they whisper is the question. I wonder who caught it . . . hmmm.

Okay, I'd like to give a hug and a **HUGE** shout out to all six of you who reveiwed over the last two chapters . . . okay three of you who each reviewed twice: _**Hanakitsunechan7**_- thank you for stickin' with me and being patient with these fics. I'll repay you for all of the cookies and chocolate, I swear. It really helped. **_Ohhlovely X_**- for your input. I promise I'll get into the _real_ story soon. And, of course, **_Sora_** . . . for giving me something to read (and much more than that-) God-I miss you so much! And I've got loads to tell you, but this is a fanfic and I can't put it all in here. Well that's what letters are for, ne? YOU NEED FREAKIN' EMAIL!

Oh yeah and thanks to all 51 hits of this story. Hits mean a lot to me even if you don't review, though reviewing is always appreciated.

So Read- Review- ask questions. Who knows, maybe I might even have answers.

Good luck with the challenge! Have fun!

Til' next time!

-Anigo


	4. First impressions

**Disclaimer:**

**The game is mine, the rights are not**

**concept, O.C.s, Venagai, Everwinding River, all mine**

**Authors Little Tid-bit Thingy:** OMG I'm sooo sorry for not getting this out sooner. I've been working on it, I swear. I won't bore you with explanations and excuses as to why I couldn't get it up before now, I'll just let you read because that's why you're here, right?

* * *

_**Chapter Four: First Impressions**_

Some time later, with his feet pulsating from being so overworked, Sora returned to the pub to find only one table being occupied. Okay, that wasn't so bad. Shuffling his weary feet and trying to ignore everything except his destination, Sora made his way toward the bar to sit. Climbing into the seat, he noticed that the two men from before were now gone. Perhaps the darker-haired one had gotten too drunk and had to be escorted out by his friend. Those two seemed like an odd pair . . . he wondered vaguely where they were now.

A deep sigh escaped Sora as he let his head fall on the counter with a resounding _**THUNK.**_

"Don't hurt yourself, there." That deep voice crooned, with a touch of concern woven within.

"At this point," Sora groaned, leaving his head planted on the counter, "Well, at this point, let's just say that there's not much else anyone can do to me that'll hurt."

Without another word there was a sharp pinch and his ear felt like it was going to be torn from the side of his head to leave a gaping bloody hole.

"OWW!! " he exclaimed raising his head once more.

Leon let out a faint scoffing sound, "I had to test that theory." He shrugged.

Sora only glared at him, too tired to even make a snide remark.

There was a shuffling behind him, as the last table seemed to stir. "Hey, Leon!" A laughing, slightly boyish voice called, hiccoughing slightly, "We're heading on up, 'kay, Dude? I'm sick of waiting for you!"

A blonde young man, in what seemed to be a blue leather ensemble, staggered toward them. His blue-green eyes were glassy and he seemed to be in a sort of daze. A small part of his hair was pulled into a short pony-tail that was no longer than the length of his neck. The rest hung loosely around his face, framing it as a bonnet would. Helping to guide him was a smallish woman with short black hair and an orange jumpsuit. If anything, she seemed more concerned about her friend than anything else at the moment.

"Whatever." Was Leon's terse reply, "Don't break anything."

"I'm hurt!" The man laughed, "You think that I would honestly be so irresponsible as to destroy the property of the almighty, innkeeper?"

The man and his friend stopped just short of the countertop and it was only at this distance that he even seemed to notice that there was another person there.

"Oho! And who's this?" he cooed leaning inward to get a better look at Sora in his frozen spot at the bar. Blue-green eyes bore into his own as if trying to fish out his soul using telepathy.

After a while, of not saying anything, and barely blinking, Sora was beginning to think maybe the man had fallen asleep right there or malfunctioned or something. He shied away and was deeply tempted to wave a hand in front of the other man's face, just to see if he was still conscious. However, reason won over curiosity and he held himself back.

"I like him," the blonde said out of nowhere, nodding his head, "He's sorta cute."

Sora frowned, "What are you talking about?"

"I'm _saying_ you're lucky I'm only into chicks." The man stated as if Sora was a slow-learning child, "Or else I may just try to take you right here." He laughed again, heartily reaching out to pat Sora heavily on the shoulder. He leaned forward to "whisper" something in his ear, "You might have to watch out for Leon though. I can't give you any guarantees about him. You look as if you might just be his type, too."

Leon frowned as well glaring directly at the blonde, but kept his mouth shut as he returned to his closing duties.

The woman in the orange jumpsuit had released the man, deeming him fit to stand without her help, and took a stool at the bar, rubbing her temples in exhaustion. A notion to which Sora could completely relate, though he had not had to cope with a drunken fool, like the one laughing over him at the moment, for an entire evening as she had. She removed her red gloves that seemed as if they were a couple sizes too big for her and ran her elegant slim fingers through her shoulder- length black hair, tugging at the ends in some internal struggle. In a show of kindness, Leon placed a complementary drink before her. She grinned up at Leon, taking the drink and nodding in silent thanks.

Sora turned his attention back to the person in front of him. The weird man was watching him again, studying him intensely, and drawing conclusions about him, no doubt. Sora cringed, drawing away from the strange man. He crossed his arms and tried his best to relay a deep scowl. The expression only made the smile on the man's face even wider.

"Though, I think you might just be cute enough to make me forget you're a dude." He turned to the woman winking, "Wha'd'ya think, Dagger?" he chided, "Pretty enough, isn't he?"

Said woman, "Dagger" as he had called her, quickly drank the remainder of the contents of her glass, politely covering her lips as she swallowed, "Let's leave this young man be for the moment and get you off to bed." She hesitated before adding the last part as if trying to decide just what to say, "Man, you look like crap."

At this, Sora put on a faint smile. It was obvious that this woman had pretty much had no prior experience in an environment like this. She was, in more ways than one, in the same boat as Sora. Unlike the blonde man, Sora felt that this woman was actually likeable, but he could not, for the life of him, figure out why she was in league with such company as this.

Sighing, Dagger stood to take her friend's arm over her shoulders and lead him to a door in the back of the pub. Halfway there, a long, thin, tan- colored appendage wrapped itself around her waist, attempting to pull her even closer to the blonde before she swatted it away harshly . . . was that . . . his _**tail**_?!

"That's just Zidane." Leon said after the two had left. "Zidane Tribal. Don't take him too seriously. He's always acting out like that. He thinks he's the most charming thing to ever walk the face of this planet."

Sora stared after them through the closed door. He wondered vaguely what his story was and why he had taken refuge with Leon in the first place. Leon only seemed to tolerate him and was far from actually liking the blonde.

As if reading his mind, Leon continued, "Hunters have been after him for months now. But they haven't been able to track him. He makes sure never to stay in one place too long, but he'll comeback and crash here for a few days before he's off again."

Sora blinked, listening intently and nodding when he felt there was something that made sense. Though there were still a few questions he need answered.

"But why is he being hunted then?" Sora asked simply, bringing up a hand to rest his head in.

Leon hesitated before he answered, debating whether or not he should disclose such information with Sora. After a while, however, he concluded that it shouldn't be a problem with someone like Sora, who was new in all of this, to know.

"D'you see the girl he was with?" Leon continued in a low whisper.

Sora nodded.

"A princess from some place called Gaia."

Sora's eyes were wide when they snapped to Leon, his mouth slightly ajar and his head had jerked forward slightly when his hand fell limply to his side.

"A-A princess?!" Sora gaped.

Leon nodded, "Princess Garnet til Alexandros . . . the 17th I believe. Zidane and his crew kidnapped her from the palace in Alexandria and they've been on the run ever since."

"17th . . ." Sora repeated blankly, "I guess it's a popular name in their family, huh?" His brows furrowed, however, when a thought dawned upon him, "So, if Zidane 'kidnapped' her, then why did they seem so . . . friendly with one another?"

Leon sighed, obviously getting tired of the topic, "She was the one who hired him to take her."

"So, she hired someone to kidnap her?" Sora sighed dazedly, absently scratching the back of his head, "Why not just run away? It'd save a lot of trouble and no one else would've had to have been involved."

Leon shrugged, cleaning out Dagger's glass and stowing it away for later use. "She _wanted_ to be taken." Leon said dully, "And I can only guess that she knew she couldn't do it on her own. So she left with him and changed her name so no one would be able to track her. Besides, a kidnapped princess looks better on the residence than one who has run away."

"That's why he was calling her 'Dagger'." Sora concluded nodding in understanding, "I can understand why she would change it."

Leon raised his eyebrows; eyeing Sora as he removed his gloves, "Do you now?"

Sora nodded, "'Princess Garnet til Alexandros the 17th' would get tiresome after a while, wouldn't it?"

Leon let out a chuckle of amusement shaking his head slowly.

Sora smiled as well as he mentally patted himself on the back for getting a laugh out of the "introvert".

"You look terrible." Leon noted suddenly, removing his apron to set it in a cupboard behind him.

Sora's smile faded instantly.

-t-

"How do you know what I look like normally?" Sora groaned as he let his fingers slide along the railing of the stairs that led upward to "the inn", "What if I always look like this? What if you've just offended me?"

Leon shrugged slightly, "The Fire's gone."

At this, Sora's head snapped up again to look directly at Leon's back. "Fire . . .?" Did Leon already know that he was a Witch? If so, how did he find out, and know his Element no less?

"Your enthusiasm is gone." Leon said dryly, "When you first stepped into the pub, you were full of energy- nearly snapped my head off in our first meeting. Now, though, it's just gone."

Sora shrugged, "I give it until morning."

The rest of the walk was taken in silence as they climbed the stairs and trekked down a narrow hallway, passed what was obviously Zidane's and Dagger's room. The light was still on and there were distinct sounds of giggling coming from the other side of the door.

"I give it until morning." Leon said dully, taking wider strides to pass the doorway. Sora was right as his heels.

When they reached the end of the hallway, Leon stopped and Sora stopped as well.

"This will be your room until you get your bearings around here." Leon said briskly gesturing to the door to his right.

Before Sora had had a chance to respond, Leon passed and was on his way back down the hallway, "Wait, Leon." He called after him.

The taller brunette stopped and turned his head slightly to the side, wordlessly acknowledging Sora's call.

Sora hesitated, unsure of how to ask his question without seeming too . . . suggestive about it, "Um- where – where will you be . . .? Y'know, in case I need to find you."

"Around." Was Leon's short reply.

And he left, disappearing into the shadows and becoming one of them instantly.

'Well that was useful.' Sora thought to himself, shaking his head and opening the door to his room. With an effortless flick of his wrist, he was able to ignite a lantern that was mounted on one of the walls. It was a modest place, furnished with only the essentials. Of course if it was a room to hide people, there would be no need for anything more than the bed that was there along the wall and said lantern mounted on the adjacent wall next to a small rectangular hole cut out for a window, with a thick cloth covering it for privacy purposes. He shuffled his way to the straw- filled "mattress" and wooden frame on which he was to sleep. Upon reaching it, with all other thoughts, including those of wonder as to where this new world was or how he was to return home, far from his mind, Sora collapsed and welcomed the softer, if still a bit lumpier than he was used to, surface on which he had fallen.

Within one minute, Sora was asleep.

-o-

Weaving and stumbling, Riku was finally able to navigate Hiro into their little house, Hiro trying to grope him the entire way. After about thirty minutes after tailing Sora on their "walk" Hiro was complaining about being tired and how much he had wanted to go home. Begrudgingly, Riku had obliged, postponing his surveillance to guide Hiro home.

Once inside, he sharply pushed his elder aside, making him stumble onto the couch as Riku passed to the kitchenette to get a "hangover potion" for him, which was, in all actuality, only a placebo. Hiro's vocabulary, which had been reduced down to incoherent gibberish, faded down to no more than a whisper as Riku rummaged through the cabinets and drawers of the kitchenette. After about a minute's worth of hunting, he had found the object of his search and made his way back over to the couch where he had planned to drop the small glass vile on Hiro's head and proceed onward to the bathroom for a long hot shower.

Upon reaching the couch, however, there was a sharp pull on his wrist and a harsh tug that made him collapse onto his knees to level himself with the rank stench of Hiro's alcohol- laden breath. The vile slipped and fell silently to the rug beneath him.

"You know you can't lie to me." Hiro's slurred drawl sounded. Expelled was any sense of playfulness, or enjoyment that had been there before entering the house.

"You're drunk." Riku replied attempting to rip his arm away only to feel the hand around his forearm tighten enough to make him wince. "Hey, Hiro, let go!"

Hiro sat up slowly, trying his damnedest to focus an intent glare at the younger man. The motion, however had twisted Riku's arm even more into a rather uncomfortable position, causing a pained hiss to escape. "I saw what you were doing tonight, Riku."

"What are you talking about?" Riku groaned still trying to pull his arm away. "I didn't do anything."

"It was that little boy, wasn't it?" Hiro growled pulling Riku harshly to him. "Damn Riku, that's fucking disgusting. I didn't know you were into little punks like that. He can't be more than, what, fifteen."

Riku only glared at Hiro, unable to do anything else. He desperately wanted to spit out "Oh yeah, look who's talking!" at him, but after years of experience of dealing with Hiro, Riku knew better than to lose control of his temper, especially around Hiro. Instead, he glared daggers at him.

Hiro scoffed, pushing Riku backward and releasing his arm finally. Riku landed on is back, his eyes never leaving Hiro's and the disgusted frown painted on his face. It was better to remain silent and take it, than to endure another one of Hiro's tirades . . . wasn't it?

Hiro stood on unstable legs, shaking his head at the man lying before him who was wearing that look on his face that spelled murder. It was this look that Hiro loved the most. It was the most passionate emotion he was ever able to extract and it was that emotion that fed his power. If Riku needed a reminder of that power, then so be it. But Hiro would be damned if he was going to let his partner's attention be stolen by a twit like the boy in the bar.

Towering over the form on the ground, Hiro stood straighter and used a booted foot to pin one of Riku's wrists to the floor beneath him. Riku winced in pain, but kept his composure.

"If this is how it's going to be now." Hiro stated, an odd sense of stability in his voice, "If you need to resort to ass-hunting to get your kicks around here nowadays, then maybe you should just stay where you are; on the ground where you belong, you sick pussy!"

Riku averted his eyes to his wrist, where Hiro's boot was beginning to cut off circulation and his fingers were growing numb. Anything to keep his attention away from Hiro, himself. One more word and Riku was afraid he was going to explode on Hiro and, above all else, Riku knew he could not afford to lose his temper. Instead, from his humiliated position, he focused on feeling the pain in his hand.

"Get off." Was all he said. He was trying to remain calm and at this rate, it was admittedly difficult to get more than two words out without sounding enraged.

Hiro seemed taken aback by this show Riku was putting on. He was still so composed, though, it seemed, as if it would be just a little bit further before he broke. Just a little bit more.

"Why?" He chided twisting the toe of his boot into the softer underskin of the pale flesh beneath him. He swore he heard something crack. "It's what you are. No more above the dirt I walk on."

"Get the _**Fuck**_ off of me, Hiro!"

There it was! The anger that had been harbored inside of him for who knows how long had finally reached its breaking point. However, it was no more than a crack. In order to feed off of it, Hiro needed the whole dam to burst.

Riku looked away again, focusing on anything- anything else but Hiro's words. 'Focus, Focus. Damn he's going to break my arm! My hand. I can't feel my hand- my fingers. Get off get off getoff get_off_!!'

"Do you ever wonder why you were the only one who made it out of the fire, Riku?"

Riku's eyes widened. No, he wasn't going to bring that into this. Not this time.

"Shut up . . ."

"You were alone there too. No father, your mother probably off again fucking some random perv from the street. It was how she got enough money to support herself wasn't it? She really didn't care if it was enough for her son as well." Hiro scoffed lightly shrugging his shoulders dismissively. "Hm, she probably wouldn't have made it back again that night anyway. And then, there was you. You were not much higher up than that perv you mother was fucking . . . "

"Shut up!"

"You were alone again that night, weren't you? Probably crying in some corner like the pansy you've always been. Probably thinking again how to end your life. Sad really, for a nine-year-old to be thinking such things. But I guess after growing up worthless and unwanted, living completely on the mercy of others and the pity of strangers, you come to seek an escape from it all don't you?"

Riku shut his eyes tightly against the man over him, fighting back the familiar sting coming from behind his eyes. "You don't know what the fuck you're saying! So SHUT UP!"

Hiro wore a dark smile on his face as he released Riku's captive wrist and watched the younger one cradle it gently, obviously finding it difficult to contain his primal rage. Riku remained on the floor however, unmoving from the spot where he had been thrown. Hiro lowered his body to straddle Riku's hips, reaching a hand out to brush loose strands of silver hair away from the trembling boy's pained face. It was all utter beauty, in Hiro's eyes.

"And I guess you were _welcoming_ the raid, then. When Kiba came. It was your big chance to stop your suffering for good. Heh- and you couldn't even do _that_ right!"

"I SAID SHUT- THE- FUCK- UP!!" Riku raged swinging up at Hiro only to have his fist caught in a larger hand. Hiro's thumb stroked over his knuckles in a smooth motion before pinning it above Riku's head. Riku attacked, then, with his injured right hand and that too was pinned with its twin, however not without another pained hiss.

Hiro leaned over Riku's helpless form, pressing their bodies firmly together and tilted his head to whisper against the shell of his ear as he had done so many times before.

"No one would've missed you, you know. If you had died with the rest of them, no one would have even noticed. You're lucky. If I hadn't have been there to find you after it was all gone, you would've been dead. Probably even within the next day."

Riku turned his face away as far as it could go and still could feel Hiro's breath on his neck. His eyes were shut tightly, but he still felt the tears rolling over his cheeks and over the bridge of his nose and he was powerless to stop any of it. He had done it again, taking Riku's past and shoving it down his throat, choking him with pain, just to prove a point. He owed Hiro for his life. Hiro owned Riku's life now and Riku was never to forget it. There were fingers pressing over his injured wrist now and he winced.

"Ooh," Hiro chided pressing in a faux caress, "Did I hurt you? Look, Riku-baby, you know that I don't _want_ to hurt you, but when you pull shit like this, I have no choice. You're _mine_, got it!"

That pressing hand found its way over to Riku's face and sharply turned his face for Hiro to watch. Through the tears, roughly wiped away with his thumb, and the pain purposely planted by the elder, was that unbridled anger, that undeniable rage that he could only get through Riku and Riku alone.

"Say it." Hiro demanded.

Riku growled, turning his eyes away from him. Hiro could be absolutely disgusting sometimes. And there was no doubt that the alcohol was only enhancing the effect.

"No!" Hiro demanded, "_Look_ at me and say it."

"Fuck you . . ." Riku spat in response.

"Riku." Came the warning as the sharp prod of thumb against wrist returned.

Riku cried out in pain.

"Well . . ." the thumb left the wrist and traveled down the frame of the body beneath him outlining the tense wind of the muscles and the pure hatred radiating within every nerve of this form. Experienced hands pulled on fabric, searching for and finding unprotected flesh.

"I hate you for this Hiro." Came the strangled reply, "I always have."

"I know." And the hand traveled to press into the hips under him, going for the fastens of his pants. "Just say it already."

Riku closed his eyes in defeat as his fastens were expertly undone. "I belong to you."

Hiro's smile widened.

-t-

It was complete darkness now and the moon was bright as it shone through the blinds on the window and illuminated the unmoving lines of Sora's peaceful features. Though it was a warm night, his skin was cold and a bit clammy. In response, the blankets had been pulled over the body, in hopes of returning the warmth that once resided within.

It was nearly midnight when Lin arrived to find two sleeping forms and one who would not be getting any sleep for a long while.

"Ms. Taiyo," Lin greeted quietly as he made his way into the room. Anxiously, he ran his long pale-ish fingers through his disheveled black mane, as it hung down to about the middle of his neck, trying desperately to make a difference in its appearance. "How's he doing?"

Taiyo raised her tired and worried eyes to observe Lin as he entered. Her thin hands were grasping one of Sora's, stroking his cold fingers. She let out a sigh before continuing.

"Well, his condition is stable, but he is still . . . "

Lin nodded in understanding as Taiyo's voice trailed off and her eyes moved back to her son's expressionless face.

"What about Nia?" was the next question as Lin moved to her side of the bed. He looked down at her unconscious form and the thin blanket draped over her shoulders. Her arms were brought up around her face as a sort of pillow, unfortunately enough, though, was that this position covered her features completely.

"Poor thing," Taiyo replied, "She's still blaming herself for all of it, even though I've told her a thousand times already that she hasn't done anything wrong. She insists that it was all her fault and that she is solely responsible for whatever happened today. She refuses to let it go."

Lin sighed at that as he focused his attention across the bed instead and straightened out his black slacks and white uniform jacket, shifting his weight from foot to foot, causing a slightly squeaking sound of his shoes against the linoleum, "And what about you?" he asked softly, clearing his throat, "How are you holding up?"

Taiyo chuckled at that, "Well, I'm doing absolutely super. No one is telling me anything and there is no explanation about what's going on with my baby. Why he isn't waking up yet. So, yeah, I'm great, considering."

Lin hung his head and focused on Nia once more, his dark eyes attempting to see past the barrier of her arms. He gave another sigh, "I'm sorry, Taiyo."

"Oh no, not another one." Taiyo chided with a sad smile painted on her expression. "You haven't done anything either, so you have no need to apologize. Let's just leave it at that. I don't want any arguments from you like Nia had, got it?"

Lin put a small smile on as well, "Okay. Look, Ms. Taiyo. I've come to take Nia home. It's on the way back from work, and I think her parents prefer that she sleep in her own bed."

Taiyo nodded in agreement. "I know where they're coming from." She said quietly, giving Sora's fingers a soft squeeze.

Lin gave Nia's shoulders a gentle shake, in attempt to wake her without alarming her. It took a little bit, but Nia finally stirred and wiped at her eyes, clearing them of the haze that was sleep. When she noticed Lin, standing above her, Nia gave a small start and straightened her posture immediately.

"Lin!" she gasped, absently pulling the blanket more tightly around herself as if it was a shawl, "What are you doing here?"

Lin stepped back a bit in order to give Nia some room to stand. "I'm here to pick you up." He answered in a matter-of-fact tone, "It's just about midnight right now."

"Oh God, really!?" Nia started, pulling out her cell phone to check the time, 11:53, "Woah . . . well, anyway, my parents know I'm here, so they shouldn't be too worried about me, should they?"

Lin shook his head, "Actually, they called me at the end of my shift and asked if I would pick you up on my way home. I told them that it would be no problem."

Nia sighed as she willed herself to wake properly, stretching and stifling yawns. Her attention was on the elder female on the opposite side of the bed. "Will you be alright here on your own, Ms. Taiyo?" she asked softly.

Taiyo smiled as she watched the pair of them readying to leave. "Oh, I'll be fine. I've got Sora after all. Hey, I'll see you guys later then?"

The two teens nodded and gave unconvinced smiles as they reluctantly edged closer to the door, each seeing straight through Taiyo's tough-girl routine as Sora had used it frequently.

"Oookay," Nia said slowly, "I'll come see you tomorrow, okay?"

Taiyo nodded, "We'll be here."

Lin nodded his good-byes, "I'll see if I can find anything in the books or on the computer about what's going on with Sora for you."

Taiyo nodded in return, to show her thanks though, than for anything else. "Right, thanks, Lin, Anything you can find will help a lot . . . Goodnight, you two and I'll see you both later."

Nia and Lin left without another word, walking together almost silently through the hospital corridors. The only accompaniment to the sounds of their footfalls on the shining floors was the hushed sound of their whispers.

"Do you really think she'll be able to last like this for very long?" Nia was saying, more to Lin's shoes than to his ear, "She doesn't seem to be doing so good."

Lin shrugged in response, "Dunno."

Nia shook her head. "There was something about her that seemed- _broken_."

"Well, Sora _is_ her son. Of course she'll be upset. We can't expect anything less really. Besides, for Sora and Taiyo, they're all each other have. If Sora doesn't come out of this, Taiyo will have lost everything . . . but she and Sora are both strong. Neither one of them will give in without a fight. They'll be fine tonight, don't worry."

"I know," Nia sighed, "I'm still just . . ." a deep yawn, "really worried."

Lin nodded.

Sure enough, as soon as the two teenagers had left the hospital room, Taiyo curled over her son's body and buried her face into his sheets, unable to hold back her tears any longer.

-h-

With the rise of the sun, Sora stirred once more, squinting through uncooperative eyelids toward the sudden weight increase on his chest. Sora forced his eyes to focus.

Only to find a bright pair of cerulean eyes staring right back at him. Blond hair was blinding his vision to everything except to the face a mere three inches in front of him.

Sora jumped to full consciousness and, if he had had a bit more room, he was sure he would have backpedaled at least a good five feet away. But seeing as he was still lying in bed, a good five centimeters would have to suffice.

"'Mornin' there, kid." Zidane greeted with a sort of half wave as he stood up completely from over Sora's mattress, "How ya doin?"

Sora was set with a quick retort about how perverted Zidane was for actually watching him sleep instead of waking him up and how rude it was for entering his room without his consent, but before Sora could even draw a breath in to make the retort, Zidane was talking again as if he had never asked a question at all.

"Look, Leon says you should change out of your clothes if you're gonna be around here. You blend in about as well as blood in snow, if you know what I mean. Anyway, Dagger says I should let you borrow some of my stuff and I'll be damned if I let you wear my stuff looking like that. So—" He gestured to the pile of clothing on Sora's chest and tossed a large terrycloth over him as well, "Go wash up."

Sora sat up in bed, letting the clothing fall from him, a slight frown was present as the towel fell.

Zidane's smile never faltered, however as he turned to leave Sora be. A few steps later, he turned as if he had just remembered something only vaguely important.

"I assume you know where the Everwinding is, right."

So, now, Sora trudged through the Venagai forest once more in search of the Everwinding River, as Zidane had called it, to wash up. He clutched the fresh folds of cloth closely to his chest as if afraid they would be stolen from him if he was to loosen his grip. He stepped over the roots of the trees as not to trip or disturb them as they seemed to have all been still sleeping.

If any of Sora's prior experience regarding this forest was to be trusted, the river was less than a ten minute walk from where he was now. Considering he had walked about an hour to _get_ where he was now, another ten minutes was asking a lot.

Finally, he was able to hear the sound of running water, good. This way, Sora could have his bath and get back to the Inn in time to eat something before the pub opened up to the public. He remembered what the tree, Mori, had told him the day before about listening for the river and decided to see if he could smell water instead. To his pleasure, the smell of water was distinct against the other smells of the forest. Sora was vaguely reminded of the Fruit Loops commercials from his childhood.

"I guess I really do have to 'follow my nose' wont I?" he muttered to himself as he turned to follow another direction to the smell of water.

Dodging a few more roots and plants, Sora found a clearing leading to the riverbank. Along the bank of the river, there was something else Sora had not expected to find.

There was a figure, a silhouette, male from the look of it, crouched in the river about waist-deep. He was bent over so low that it looked as if he was going to try to drown himself in the current. His form was trembling slightly as he busied himself with the water. Sora stationed himself behind a tree's trunk as he watched. The man's hair fell in sheets around his face the ends of it brushing the surface of the water, shielding his features from view. It fell down to just below his broadened shoulders, giving off a silvery limn. From the look of it, he was not trying to clean himself. Instead, he was working diligently on something beneath the water . . . he seemed to be favoring one side as well . . . it all made him seem a bit uneven.

Sora looked more closely at the man and his movements trying to figure out what he was doing exactly. He even strained his ears to try and hear if he was saying anything about it. However, he was unable to hear much more than a faint muttering before a very loud, "DAMN HIM!!!"

Sora recoiled.

The man punched the water, fuming. It was a clumsy punch that lead Sora to believe he was not very skilled with his left hand. Beneath the water, the man cradled his arm gently, hanging his head as if staring intently at his reflection through the water. He let go of his arm and punched at it again, letting out a furious scream. Sora listened and watched as the scream died down and the man fell face forward into the water with a _**splash**_

"What the . . ."

A minute went by and the man had not resurfaced. Frowning, Sora edged out from his hiding place to get a better look. There was no one doing the "dead-man-float" so that was a good sign. Sora moved closer to see if there was any other sign of him than what he could see at the forest's edge. Looking down the small incline of the river's bank, he saw a mound of what seemed to be long silver grass, that is, all except for the paleish colored human body attached to it. It looked as if he had only just washed up on the bank. His face was expressionless and his eyes were void as he stared blankly upward toward the sky. His body was limp and he didn't seem as if he was in any hurry to breathe again anytime soon.

"HEY!" Sora jolted forward, dropping his clothes in the process as he rushed toward the bank, "Hey you! Are you—"

The man's head turned slowly to look upon the intruder on the land, his blank green eyes locking with Sora's worried blue. The man made a slow blink as he made the effort to sit up to look at Sora properly, though it seemed as if whatever this man looked at, he would look through it as opposed to actually studying. Sora looked down at him, confused completely by his behavior. He stood completely to face Sora, his now- dripping hair clinging to the sides of his face and neck, his features giving Sora the most bored expression he had ever seen, including those he had seen in the political science classes he had taken the semester before summer, that is, except for the slight cock in the man's head that showed some form of interest at least. His thick muscular arms were down, loose at his sides, though, Sora noticed one was bent as if it was unable to straighten itself completely. There was also a black/ bluish tint to its coloring. Thin green shorts adorned his hips and clung to his thighs, soaked with river water.

Sora tore his eyes away quickly before he could make another staring faux pas as he had done to Leon the night before.

"What d'ya want?" he asked sounding as bored as he looked, maybe even a bit fatigued.

Sora shook his head and forced himself to look back up with him, trying again not to stare at one place too long.

"You . . ." he began, pointing at the river than the man, "and then you-" he made a motion showing the fall, "and you." He pointed to the sky, "I thought you were—"

"Eloquent, aren't we?" the silver- haired man wryly interjected putting on a faint smirk. "Hey, you were in the pub last night weren't you?" he continued approaching Sora inexorably, "Aren't you a little too young to be drinking?"

Any sign of Sora's nervous attitude was gone instantly and he could feel his cheeks growing warm with defiance. Before he could retort, however, the other man continued as if he hadn't asked a question at all.

"What do you want here, Fire Witch?" he stopped in front of Sora towering over him by about a foot.

Sora's eyes narrowed as he glared at the scrutinizing green eyes on him. Leon had made a fluke judgment and stumbled across Sora's Element, but how was it that this stranger knew exactly what he was just by looking.

"You really must be a dumb one then." The elder male continued, "Look," he explained as if for the thousandth time, "The bands on your arm show what level you are and the color indicates your Element. Got it?"

Sora was fuming by now. No, he had not known that bit of information, but that gave no right for this idiotic stranger to lecture him, right. Sora noticed a single black band across the other's arm, the blueish arm, Sora noticed, was badly bruised, "So, what are you? A witch of the dark?"

The elder scoffed, "No. An Ice Warlock, though I still don't seem to get why it's any of your business."

"You were in the bar last night, right?" Sora demanded, switching the subject, "Where's your friend?"

The green eyes glaring at him narrowed dangerously, as if in disgust. "He's no friend. How about you get back to answering my question, Fire Witch?"

Sora narrowed his eyes just as dangerously, "My name is SORA!" He raged, "Get it right!"

The green eyed man seemed unfazed by Sora's little display of emotion and simply stared pointedly at the younger man, sizing him up.

"Sora, huh?" he inquired placing his banded left arm on his hip. He seemed to move to outstretch his bruised arm, however thought better of it as a brief flash of pain flitted across his face. "Weird name. I'm Riku."

* * *

**Ending Little Tid-bit Thingy**: Okay, there it is, chapter four. So, any good? Let me know in your reviews, kay? Thanks

OH! And congratulations to Ari Emraldstar for getting the answer right to last chapter's quiz. The trees use their leaves, roots and branches, in conjunction with any wind that may be available to imitate human speech. One-Thousand Points To Ari!!! Congratulations. Stay tuned for more challenges, because there WILL be more. To the person with the most points at the end, a prize will be bestowed. So give it your all.

Quick question: I have an idea for a lemon scene in my head regarding this chapter, but I fear it's too soon in the story to have one. Let me know what you think and judging by the number of readers who want it, I'll post one somewhere (Though probably not on this site for fear of being reported and deleted I'll let you know if/when that time comes, kay)

Till next time, much luv

-Anigo


	5. Prize

"You sent him to the river alone?" Dagger scolded as her blond companion came strolling in, with every intention to climb back into bed. He traced the buttons on the front of his shirt, up to the "stylish" ruffled collar. He hadn't bothered putting on his vest, knowing he was only going to remove it in a few moments' time.

"He needs to know his way around here, doesn't he?" Zidane answered with a dismissive shrug, "I can't always be around to babysit him. I'm not his mother."

The princess was sitting at the foot of the bed, her legs, hanging off of the edge. Her posture was surprisingly straight, even for such an informal setting. Zidane noticed this as well as her apprehensive expression as he came to sit alongside her. He made a mental note: Teach Dagger to slouch.

"There is something about that boy," she was saying toward her knees, "I cannot pretend to know what it is, but there is an aura surrounding him that is impossible to ignore."

"Aww. Don't say it like that. You're gonna make me think you've got something goin' for him." Zidane smiled playfully and mischievously. "I don't know if I can handle that kind of betrayal. You know I don't do rejection well."

There was no change in the princess' face. No playful intent or even a hint of a smile.

Zidane sighed, refastening his buttons and reaching for his vest. ". . . I'll go get him."

Sora stared at him in borderline incredulity. "Anyone ever tell you you're not one for first impressions?"

Riku shrugged, his expression unchanging, "Well, if I was to meet someone for the first time, I don't think I would start off the conversation babbling like a complete lunatic. If you were trying to seem intelligent, you went about it all wrong."

"Well excuse me." Sora huffed, "Next time I see someone drowning, I'll remember to steer clear."

"That would be wise. You would probably be interrupting someone's bath again."Riku gave a slight nod of his head, bowing. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I should be getting back to mine."

Sora watched as the silver-haired man turned his back to him, leaving him on the shore as he waded back into the water. What a jerk! Their first meeting and the whole thing was made up of insulting each other. If it hadn't been for learning the other guy's name, this wouldn't have been an introduction at all. Sora's brow remained furrowed for a moment longer as Riku crouched again, lowering himself to be about waist high and submerging his arm once more.

Sora hesitated before stepping forward, the cold water playing at his bare feet.

Jerk or not, Riku was one of the few people around who actually took the time of day to talk to him. Besides, maybe he could learn something from him.

Slowly, Sora waded in after Riku, being sure to keep his distance. Riku looked back at him from over his shoulder, giving a quiet smirk. "Do you mind? What if I wanted privacy while I bathe?"

Sora shrugged, letting go of some of the past irritation. He was too tired for it anyway. "Then you wouldn't do it in the river." He suppressed a shudder as he allowed himself to acclimate to the water's frigid temperature. "Besides, from the sound of it, you could use someone to talk to. You sounded really upset with your un-friend."

Something behind Riku's eyes flashed and his body seemed to tense, but it only lasted a short moment, before he pushed it aside and put on a sly smirk in its place. "So," He chided, "You've been watching me bathe?"

Sora shrugged, pushing down the slight blush as he patted is face with the cool water, trying to hide any evidence of the heated blood rushing to the area, "No- not really," He admitted, stepping further into the river so his knees were underwater too. "To tell the truth, I was looking for a bath too. I've never really done it in a river before. I'm used to showering."

Sora chuckled to himself. Okay, so that was kind of a lie. He'd used the waterfall by the secret place back home to shower off in after swimming in the ocean, but that was the closest he'd ever come to something like this.

"I just happened to be passing by," Sora continued, "And I saw your little temper tantrum."

"'Temper tantrum'?" Riku repeated, turning to face Sora completely. "What am I a toddler now? Look, you should spend a week with Hiro and see how long you can go before he completely pisses you off."

Sora looked to Riku's blackened arm and winced at the sight. It looked like it really hurt. "Did he do that to you?" He asked out of concern.

Riku looked down at it as well, gently fingering the tender flesh from beneath the water. "Hiro has a short temper . . . especially when he's drunk."

"Ah!" There was the perfect confirmation to Sora's silent question. "So he _was _the guy I saw you with last night."

Riku hummed, lowering his head. "I really don't wanna talk about this." He said tersely.

Sora nodded an apology.

Zidane crouched, overlooking the two, hidden by the branches and sheltering leaves. He gripped a couple sturdy branches to keep steady, one with his hand, the other with his tail. His other hand was absently busy, fingering the hilt of one of his daggers just in case he needed it. In this position, he kept a protective eye over Sora, looking for anything that triggered his defenses. Before Zidane left the inn to go look for Sora at the Everwinding, Squall caught up to him to pass on a bit of disturbing information. It turned out that Sora's name had been added to the list of bounty heads and he was among those marked top priority. Even more surprising was the price on his head. There was still no information about who set the reward or what Sora's "crime" had been, but with a bounty of over 5,400,000 Gil, there were sure to be plenty of hunters after him soon regardless. With a price like that, it was enough to even tempt Zidane; in all honesty, he could use the extra change. However, it went against every single one of his morals to even think about turning the kid in.

Not to mention Dagger would never let him hear the end of it if he did.

Looking over the scene, Zidane saw that Sora wasn't alone at the river, not only that, but the other guy he was with was a hunter, no doubt about it. He was one of the best as a matter of fact. That guy and his partner together took down some of the most well-known bounty heads on the list and if the rumors could be believed, they had their sights on a certain princess-napping fugitive next. If they got their hands on Sora, he'd be done for.

So far, he could see that the hunter was weaponless and he made no move that signified that he knew anything about Sora. Maybe word hadn't traveled that far yet. Heck he was even getting _friendly_ with the kid. And if eavesdropping on the conversation told him anything it was that his partner was nowhere in the area. So there was no immediate threat. But for now, Zidane would continue to play Lookout.

The hunter let out a short chuckle, raking his silver bangs from his yes, "You know, bathing tends to work better with your clothes off."

Sora laughed nervously, lifting a hand to scratch at the nape of his neck as if he had forgotten, "Well, you see, my clothes are pretty dirty too. This way, I can get everything clean in one go."

The hunter shook his head, "Are you always this idiotic?" He jeered, "You'd need to scrub those stains out really well, and unless you wanna lose some skin in the process, I suggest you take them off before you wash them."

Zidane did what he could to keep from laughing. The hunter couldn't care less about Sora's clothes. This was a weapons search; indirect, but still very thorough. The funny part was that Sora was more than willing to obey, stripping down to his under-shorts and tossing the rest to the river bank. He wrapped his arms tightly around himself as if trying to keep warm as he curled over himself sinking down in the water to be covered up to his shoulders. From this position, he had to look up in order to speak to the hunter's chest. The hunter laughed, standing straighter and putting a hand to his hip, obviously showing off his build. And Sora eagerly took up the bait, staring almost blatantly. Truth be told, the hunter was pretty well built. Well, to keep up with and take down Kadaj's gang, you kinda _had_ to be; and that Loz guy was supposed to be a real bruiser.

Zidane allowed himself a moment to relax, not seeing any immediate danger yet. He decided to just wait in the tree until the hunter left. He didn't want to be seen or recognized by the wrong person. So, it was hiding for him for now. Though, he did keep his fingers near his ever-trusty dagger. "Just in case."

Finally, after what seemed to be an entire day, Hiro stirred from his spot in bed, groaning and cringing his face to fight the throbbing pain behind his eyes. He cracked his eyes slightly only to close them again, shielding them from the sunlight.

He tightened his grip on the object in his arms, not to find the firm solidity of Riku's warm body, but the soft conformity of a feather-down pillow. His partner was gone again.

"Ri-kuuuuuun," he groaned, frowning deeply, trying to get the pain to melt back into the recesses of his mind, clutching the colder pillow even tighter. The sound of crackling paper greeted him at the motion and Hiro paused . . . a note?

He opened his eyes to slits, turning away from the light to read with less of an intrusion.

"As I promised. Fondle this for a while."

Hiro's frown didn't ease at the note, but instead got even more pronounced. Why was Riku being so damned distant? The two of them had always been a dynamic duo of sorts, wordlessly communicating to one another, surprising their targets with how little they needed to say to each other. Ever since he found Riku, the two of them had been really close.

So, when had things changed? Why had he suddenly turned so cold toward him?

Flashes shot through Hiro's troubled head; images, still shots. The pain behind Riku's face. The hatred in his expression. The tearful cries he tried so hard to suppress. The anger that managed to seep through. Hiro was rejuvenated by the anger he'd managed to collect from Riku to the point that it seemed to completely overtake him. Riku had called him sadistic before, but when had sadism turned into abuse?

Now, even when Riku cried out his name, it was full of resentment.

A movie reel seemed to start up at the silent question. Accompanying it was audio from what felt like a distant memory from someone else's mind.

A satisfying crack of bone and another fervent cry of pain.

"Say it." A dark chilling voice commanded. It was so harsh and malicious and absolutely thrilled at the dominant position he was in. Sickeningly so.

Wait a minute. That was _his_ voice, wasn't it?

And Riku's, a quiet hiss, seething and dripping malice.

"Fuck you . . . I hate you for this, Hiro . . . I always will."

A pleased chuckle, "I know."

Suddenly, Hiro felt sick to his stomach. It had happened again. He blacked out while the dark intent of his Element took over . . . at least that's how he wanted to think of it. He refused to think that _he _had anything to do with what happened the night before. After all, this wasn't the first time he'd done something he had no memory of. Unfortunately enough, though, every time it did happen, Riku was the unlucky victim in his darkness' wild fury.

As Hiro tried to sit up, the room spun around him, his blood beginning to flow properly again. That sick feeling only got worse and Hiro was reminded just how much he'd had to drink the night before. He wondered if it was the alcohol that'd triggered all of it. He noted it, making another silent promise to himself and to Riku that he would attempt again to stop drinking.

He released a low groan. He _had_ to find Riku. Explain himself or else Riku really would hate him forever, but who knew what World he would've gone to in order to escape Hiro's violent obsession? He wondered if Riku had any intent to come back home at all this time. He'd never gone so far as to break bones before. What if Riku was gone for good?

Hiro looked back to the note. ". . . for a while." It said. Maybe he would come back eventually. Well, that's something at least. Beneath that, Hiro noticed smaller writing halfway covered by his thumb. He moved it in order to read the hastily written post script.

"A shower wouldn't kill you. You're sweating ale."

Slowly, taking Riku's advice, Hiro stood and headed for the shower.

Taiyo stood beside Sora's bed, keeping his hand warm in hers and silently praying for his health. He hadn't so much as shifted all weekend and she was becoming more and more worried about him as time passed, day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute without him showing any sign of getting better.

The sun was low that Sunday afternoon and the last bus going to her neighborhood would be leaving soon. Taiyo had to leave to get home with time enough to get ready for work the next day, but she found it difficult to just leave her son like this with no familiar face around in case he did wake up and wanted some answers.

The doctors had assured her that Sora would receive the best care they could offer him. There would always be someone available in case he needed them and if there was even the slightest change in his condition, they would contact her right away. They were well trained and comatose patients were a simple matter for them.

Taiyo cringed at the word "comatose", but it was far better than "life support". Sora was healthy, for that she was grateful, but she was scared to death at the thought that he might not come out of this.

She checked the clock on the wall. She had five minutes to catch the bus.

She sighed, bringing a hand up to gently stroke Sora's brow. Still, there was no change.

"It's okay, baby." She whispered to him. "I'll be back soon, okay?"

And with that, Taiyo pried herself away from her son's unresponsive form to catch her bus home.

"Wait. A bounty . . . on _my_ head!"

"And a pretty hefty one too. At least that's what Squall says. He hears all the reports on these things. That's how he looks out for us. Heh. That's how I know which areas to avoid. You know they're houndin' me pretty bad right now. Fugitive with a kidnapped princess and all, but I guess I dug my own grave there, huh?"

Sora kept quiet as he shuffled beside Zidane back to the inn. The clothing he'd borrowed from the blond was completely mismatched to say the least, but he supposed it really fit Zidane well. The shirt clung terribly to his chest like a second skin, making him wonder if there would make any difference at all if he had decided to go shirtless instead. He felt as if he would suffocate in the outfit and the stupid ruffles at the collar weren't making it any better. In contrast, the pants were too big for him and were loose-fitting to begin with, especially around the hips and thighs so they hung loosely from the borrowed leather belt he used to keep them up. The legs were way too long and he had to tuck them in to oversized boots so he wouldn't trip on them. The blue of this outfit was a few shades darker than that of the outfit Zidane usually wore, but the style was exactly the same. He seemed to be fond of it so Sora decided to keep his mouth shut about how strange it looked.

Sora sighed crossing his arms as they continued, "I'm gonna have to ask Squall about that list. I have to figure out what bounty hunters would want with me . . ."

Zidane shook his head, linking his fingers behind his neck in a casual stroll. "Who knows anymore? Squall _would _be the one to ask, but it's never really a guarantee that you'll get a straight answer. He likes to play mind games. Tell you only half of what you need to know and stuff like that."

"I'll have to keep that in mind, thanks."

"Heh. No problem, little buddy."

Conversation died down again and their steps slowed, not much in a hurry anyway. Zidane gave a quiet sigh before he chimed in again with something he'd seemed to almost forget about. "Oh yeah- and that guy you were with earlier. You should stay away from him."

Sora hummed questioningly.

"Bounty hunter." Zidane explained tersely, "And a damned good one too. He and his partner are enough to keep any one of us on his toes. And with the bounty on _your_ head . . . well, let's just say, I'd be really careful who I talked to from now on if I were you."

Sora kept his eyes lowered as he walked, "Riku's a bounty hunter?" he speculated, trying not to trip over his feet, "Damn it."

"Yeah." Zidane shrugged, "Life kinda sucks that way sometimes. Looks like that date you two set up is gonna have to wait."

"Yeah," Sora sighed, "We were supposed to . . . Wait! How did you know about . . . It's _not_ a date! Riku and I were just gonna get together for –"

"A romantic walk through the forest to get to know each other, maybe go back to his place afterward for some dessert and coffee?"

"Lay of the land." Sora corrected through grit teeth. "Riku was just gonna show me around here. Help me get to know the place a bit better."

"Oh. I'm sure." Zidane chided, "I'll give him one thing, that Riku guy knows a thing or two about pick-ups."

"How long were you listening before you decided to show up?" Sora asked in a small voice, a little embarrassed about the whole thing.

"Oh," Zidane laughed aloud, "long enough to know that someone's got a little bit of a crush on this hunter guy. Do I see a forbidden love blossoming? I have to say, Sora, I'm surprised. I had no idea you went that way. I was only joking with you last night."

Sora went red in the face as he kept his pace up beside Zidane, deciding it wiser to just keep his mouth shut until they got back to the inn.

Zidane sobered down a bit, sensing Sora's discomfort. He gave him a comforting smile, lowering his arms to playfully jab Sora with his elbow. "Lighten up." He joked. I won't tell anyone about your new boyfriend. Trust me."


End file.
